Watch: India's National Anthem Stops Midway Before 1st SA T20I. Reason Is...

The Indian national anthem stopped midway due to a technical glitch before the start of the first T20I clash against South Africa in Durban on Friday. The national anthem stopped suddenly due to a glitch but the Indian cricket team stars continued to sing. The anthem resumed from the point where it stopped but for a few moments, the India cricketers were left confused. The crowd was also not happy with the proceedings as they expressed their disapproval at the proceedings. However, as the anthem ended, they erupted in applause as the both teams got ready for the encounter.

South Africa won the toss and chose to field first against India in their first clash after the T20 World Cup final. The reigning T20 World Cup winners will be facing the Proteas side they nudged past in the final of the tournament when India beat South Africa by seven runs to lift the trophy for a second time.

Technical issues while playing India national anthem at South Africa #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/zERCrEi3DV — Mr.Perfect(@gotnochills007) November 8, 2024

The Suryakumar Yadav-led India have been in top form since the final in June with the team having won 10 of their 11 matches since.

pic.twitter.com/tPn3M5X3F6 — Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) November 8, 2024

The Men in Blue also hold the venue advantage over their opponents with the side never having lost in Durban and have four wins in five games at the Kingsmead Cricket Ground.

Despite the overcast conditions, Surya kept his cool and claimed the team would have chosen to bat had they won the toss.

Playing XIs:

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Varun Chakravarthy

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Partrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter

(With IANS inputs)