New Delhi. A historic moment was witnessed before the first T20 International match being played between India and Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. For the first time, the national song Vande Mataram was played before the national anthem Jana Gana Mana on the cricket field. During this, along with the players present in the stadium, the spectators also stood with respect and listened to the national anthem. This occasion is considered special in the history of Indian cricket and the sports history of the country.

There is usually a tradition of playing the national anthem before the start of the match. However, this time the program started with the national song Vande Mataram and after that the national anthem Jana Gana Mana was played. This historic event colored the atmosphere of the stadium with patriotic colors. There was special enthusiasm among the players and spectators during this period.

It was told that this event is part of the programs to the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram. Guidelines to this were issued by the Union Home Ministry. Under these guidelines, all six verses of Vande Mataram were presented at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The time allotted for presenting the full version of the national anthem was approximately 3 minutes 10 seconds. After this, about 52 seconds time was kept for the national anthem. In this way the duration of the entire program was approximately 4 minutes 2 seconds.

According to the new guidelines, people present there have been asked to stand at attention during the playing of the national anthem. The use of the full version of the national anthem is approved for certain formal government functions and special occasions. In the same sequence, it was also organized before this international cricket match played between India and Afghanistan.

Vande Mataram has special significance in Indian history. It was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the year 1937, the Indian National Congress accepted its first two verses as the national song. After this, in the year 1950, the Constituent Assembly recognized Vande Mataram as the national song.

Talking about the cricket match, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to bowl first. In the Indian team, Sanju Samson was given the responsibility of wicketkeeper while Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan were part of the team. Tilak Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dubey, Akshar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakraborty were also included in the playing eleven. However, young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi did not get a chance to play in this match.

After this historic beginning, now cricket lovers will also keep an eye on what tradition regarding Vande Mataram continues in the upcoming international cricket events. This event, which took place before the India-Afghanistan match, has definitely become one of the memorable moments on the cricket field.