After the first match of IND vs AFG, ‘Vande Mataram’ became a regular before India matches

India and Afghanistan cricket teams ahead of the first T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. (OR) New Delhi: For the first time ever, the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung before the match between India and Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. The national song was followed by the standard practice of the national anthems of both countries.It should be mentioned here that “Vande Mataram” was also sung during the Delhi Premier League final which was also held at the same venue. Curiously, it was not played during other state leagues in Odisha and Punjab.It has been learned that this will be the practice in matches involving the Indian team in India. “This will be followed at all events in India. It will be practice and not just about this stadium,” the source said.It comes on the heels of Parliament passing a bill making any insult to the national anthem a criminal offence. The full official version of ‘Vande Mataram’ contains six stanzas – which were sung before the first of the three match series.When the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram’ was celebrated, the Ministry of Home Affairs directed that all six slokas must be sung when ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is also sung.“The Prevention of Insults to National Honor (Amendment) Bill, 2026 amends Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act, 1971. It extends the same legal protection to the National Song, Vande Mataram, as is currently afforded to the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana,” Jana Gana Mana said. The amendment makes it an offense to intentionally prevent the National Anthem from being sung in order to prevent it from being sung. PIB statement in July.Before the teams took to the field for the national song and anthems, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to stand.