The Indian National Anthem stopped twice midway in South Africa on Friday, just before the start of the first T20I between the two sides at the Kingsmead in Durban. The incident took place just before the start of the game when both teams lined up for the National Anthem.
Possibly a technical glitch, the National Anthem stopped initially as the Indian players continued singing on their own. It stopped once again, this time leaving the likes of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar and Tilak Varma baffled, the video of which went viral on social media.
However, the South African national anthem didn’t face any such issues. Meanwhile, the national anthem controversy was overshadowed by Sanju Samson‘s second consecutive T20I hundred. The India opener, who had scored his maiden T20I ton against Bangladesh in his last match in Hyderabad, raced to a 47-ball century, which included seven fours and 10 huge sixes.
He thus became the first Indian batter to score two back-to-back hundreds in the shortest format of the game and fourth overall. Before Samson, French Gustav Mckeon, Rilee Rossouw of South Africa and Phil Salt of England achieved the same.
Powered by Sanju Samson’s ton, India reached 202/8 in 20 overs. It was also India’s seventh 200-plus total in a T20I in 2024, thus equalling their own record from 2023. Gerald Coetzee was the pick of South African bowlers with 3/37 from his four overs.
Earlier, South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to field against India. Hosts South Africa have handed a debut to 21-year-old all-rounder Andile Simelane.
IND vs SA playing XIs
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Varun Chakravarthy.
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Partrick Kruger,Marco Jansen,Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter.
