The series opener between Bangladesh and Afghanistan on Sunday (June 3) saw a goof-up as the Bangladeshi national anthem had not been played before the match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium speakers.

But the television audiences did hear the anthem on television and at that time it appeared as if none of the Bangladesh cricketers were paying attention to the national anthem. On the other hand, Afghanistan’s national anthem was played both on the stadium speakers and the television.

Bangladesh team manager, Khaled Mahmud has clarified the situation and revealed that nobody on the ground knew when the Bangladeshi national anthem was being played as they were told by the broadcasters that it would not be heard from the ground.

“We were told by the broadcasters that there will be no sound during the national anthem and nobody in the ground actually knew when the national anthem was played. By the time we were informed, it was too late and that was the reason it appeared on television that the payers were casual while it was playing. But there was sound during Afghanistan’s national anthem... I don’t know why it happened and later the ACB officials and the broadcasters apologized to us.

“We were told that the national anthem will be played only before the first match but I hope that it will be played in the next two games with proper sound. I think there is no point blaming our cricketers as they were totally unaware of it” Mahmud reportedly said.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has also posted on social media regarding the incident.