Vande Mataram sung before India-Afghanistan first T20I in Delhi

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Vande Mataram was sung before India and Afghanistan played the first T20I of their three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. The national anthems of both countries followed the national song.

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A Times of India report described the ceremony as the first such pre-match use of Vande Mataram for the national team.

Pre-match sequence at Arun Jaitley Stadium

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to field before the teams entered the ground for Vande Mataram and the two national anthems.

The report said the full six-stanza version of Vande Mataram was performed. The national song had also been sung at the Delhi Premier League final at the same venue, but the article said the practice had not been followed in state leagues in Odisha and Punjab.

Future use at India home matches remains unconfirmed

An unnamed source quoted in the report said the practice would be followed at events involving the Indian team in India and would not be limited to the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

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The reported plan was not accompanied by a formal BCCI announcement in the source material, leaving the scope and implementation of any continuing policy unconfirmed.

The report linked the ceremony to the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram and to a Home Ministry direction that all six stanzas should be sung when Jana Gana Mana is also performed.

The article also cited a July PIB statement concerning the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. According to the quoted statement, the amendment extended legal protection to Vande Mataram and made it an offence to intentionally prevent its singing or disturb an assembly engaged in singing it.