Anthem controversy once again leaves PCB fuming with the Indian national anthem played during the Australia-England game.
Anthem controversy has led to PCB once again asking the ICC for clarification on the matter.
The UK’s national song was played without incident prior to the match between Australia and England. However, a recording of the Indian national anthem started to play before it was quickly halted and replaced, rather than being followed by the beginning notes of the Australian national anthem.
The PCB has faulted the ICC for the miscalculation, which it finds unacceptable. Since this is an ICC competition, a PCB official explained that the ICC created and disseminated the anthem playlist and is responsible for playing the anthems prior to the games. Given that India isn’t playing any matches in Pakistan, the PCB also questioned why the Indian hymn was on the playlist in the first place.
Following occurrences that it believes have damaged Pakistan’s status as the official hosts of the Champions Trophy, the PCB has had to request an explanation from the ICC for the second time in as many days. When India played Bangladesh in the second match of the tournament in Dubai, the official broadcast did not include Pakistan’s name on the logo.
This was different from the broadcast graphics used for the other tournament events thus far, such as the opening match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi, where both the event name and “Pakistan” were displayed.
The PCB wasn’t satisfied with the ICC’s explanation, which was that it was a technical glitch. No matter where the games were held, the ICC promised that something like this would never happen again. This implies that Pakistan’s name would appear on the official on-screen emblem for Sunday’s match between India and Pakistan in Dubai, the tournament’s most anticipated match.
The match between Australia and England was the most dramatic and attracted the largest crowd of the tournament thus far. Australia defeated England by five wickets with 15 balls remaining after chasing down a record 351.