ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match between Australia and England had a slight moment of blunder as the Indian national anthem was mistakenly played in Lahore instead of the Australian national anthem on Saturday (February 22). The Aussie players and crowd at Lahore Gaddafi Stadium were surprised before the organisers realized their blunder and stopped the Indian national anthem. Order was restored when Advance Australia Fair was finally played at the renowned Lahore venue, which has been renovated for the Champions Trophy.
The organizers' mistake was unusual, given that India is not set to play any of its Champions Trophy matches in Lahore. After India declined to travel to Pakistan for the eight-team tournament, a hybrid model was implemented, with India scheduled to play all its matches in Dubai. Watch the video here...
In ICC-hosted cricket events, the national anthems of both competing teams are traditionally played before each match. This ceremony occurs after the toss, allowing players to shake hands and prepare for the contest.
Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and elected to field against England in its opening Group B game on Saturday at the Champions Trophy.
Australia led by stand-in captain Steven Smith after its World Cup-winning pace trio of captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were ruled out of tournament due to injuries and personal reasons. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis has announced a surprise retirement from ODIs.
Fast bowlers Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson were drafted into the playing XI to fill in the big shoes of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc with Adam Zampa the only frontline spinner.
Australia didn’t have an ideal preparation for the tournament after losing the home series 2-1 to Pakistan and was also whitewashed 2-0 in Sri Lanka earlier this month.
England, coming into the Champions Trophy after a 3-0 loss in India, has promoted wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith to No. 3 which means Joe Root will be batting down at No. 4. Smith will take over the wicketkeeping gloves from Phil Salt after recovering from a calf injury.
England go into the opening game with four specialist bowlers and will be heavily relying on the pace of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer upfront with Brydon Carse as the other pace option.
Liam Livingstone and Root will make up for the fifth bowler with leg-spinner Adil Rashid as the sole specialist spin option in the playing XI.
Pakistan is hosting its first major ICC tournament in 29 years since it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.
New Zealand and India won their opening group A games against Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively while South Africa began its campaign in Group B with 107-run victory against Afghanistan at Karachi on Friday.
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