New Delhi: An embarrassed Pakistan has blamed the International Cricket Council for a national goof-up in the Champions Trophy match between Australia and England and demanded an explanation from the world governing body.
Everyone present at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore were left bemused when India’s national anthem was played before the start of the Australia vs England game, which the Aussies won by five wickets for a winning start to their campaign.
India were supposed to play against Pakistan in Lahore on Sunday but refused to travel citing security reasons, forcing the ICC to shift the match to Dubai.
Despite the change in schedule, the anthem mix-up has left the PCB fuming and they have shot off a letter to the ICC outlining the incident and demanding an explanation.
“The PCB has made it clear that the ICC needs to offer some explanation as their people are responsible for the (national anthem) playlist of teams in the Champions Trophy,” a PCB source was quoted as saying by PTI.
“Since India is not playing in Pakistan, it is hard to understand how their anthem was played by mistake from the playlist.”
Pakistan under pressure
The PCB had earlier written to the governing body to point out no display of its name on TV screens when India beat Bangladesh by six wickets in Dubai on Friday.
The ICC acknowledged that it was a mistake and assured that from henceforth and all matches in Dubai will use the three-line horizontal logo with Pakistan’s name.
The PCB have spent millions before the tournament to refurbish three stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi to make them fit to host matches of the Champions Trophy.
But its efforts were dampened a bit after India refused to play in Pakistan, leading to a delay in finalisation of schedule and start of promotions.
Apart from these off field woes, the hosts also suffered on the field when they crashed to a 60-run defeat to New Zealand in their to tournament opener on February 19 and now must beat India on Sunday to avoid an early exit.
Everyone present at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore were left bemused when India’s national anthem was played before the start of the Australia vs England game, forcing Pakistan to demand an explanation from the ICC Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
