New Delhi, September 13, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
In a first for an international cricket match in India, Vande Mataram was played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium ahead of the national anthems of India and Afghanistan before the opening T20I of the series on Sunday.
As players from both teams lined up on the field ahead of the match, the venue echoed with the national song, followed by India’s national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, and the national anthem of Afghanistan as part of the pre-match protocol.
The development comes amid the Ministry of Home Affairs’ guidelines on the observance and rendition of Vande Mataram. The guidelines prescribe the singing of the national song before the national anthem at specified official events.
An MHA directive issued on January 28 laid down formal protocols for the rendition of Vande Mataram, including provisions for its six stanzas at official functions. It also stated that the national anthem should be played after the national song, which has a prescribed duration of 190 seconds, and that people should remain attentive during its rendition.
The initial guidelines listed various occasions when Vande Mataram was to precede the national anthem, although sporting events were not explicitly mentioned.
Vande Mataram was also sung in full on August 15, 2026, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address at the Red Fort. The rendition lasted around three minutes and 20 seconds.
Written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in Bengali in 1875 and subsequently published in his novel Anandamath in 1882, Vande Mataram became an iconic symbol of India’s freedom movement.
The pre-match rendition at the Delhi venue marked the first reported integration of the newly framed protocol into an international cricket match in India.
A DDCA official said those involved in conducting the match were aware of the Home Ministry guidelines and their application to the event.
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