A day before the highly anticipated India vs Pakistan clash in the Champions Trophy 2025, the Indian national anthem was mistakenly played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The incident occurred before the Group B match between Australia and England.
After England finished singing their anthem, a line from India's national anthem, "Bharat Bhagya Vidhata," started playing instead of Australia's "Advance Australia Fair." The mix-up was quickly corrected, but not before the incident went viral on social media.
The mix-up gained attention as India is not touring Pakistan for the tournament due to geopolitical tensions. Instead, India will play all their matches in Dubai under the hybrid hosting model.
India secured a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their opening match of the tournament. The team, led by Rohit Sharma, is now preparing for a highly anticipated game against defending champions Pakistan on Sunday. India will be aiming to settle the score after their 180-run defeat to Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final in London.
Australia, led by Steve Smith, won the toss and elected to bowl first against England in their opening match. The team is missing captain Pat Cummins due to injury and fast bowler Mitchell Starc for personal reasons.
Speaking at the toss, Smith said the team preferred to bowl first because of the dew factor on the pitch. He also praised wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who recently scored 156 against Sri Lanka in a Test series.
Both Australia and England are coming off recent series losses. Australia suffered a 2-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka, while England lost a three-match series 3-0 against India.
Australia playing XI: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson.
England playing XI: Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
