Cricket fans in Pakistan are incensed that the World Cup 2023 anthem has a smaller national flag
The highly awaited World Cup 2023’s anthem was announced by the ICC last Wednesday, and since then, social media has been ablaze with fury for a variety of reasons. Cricket fans all around the globe were mostly underwhelmed with the music video for “Dil Jashn Bole.” Pakistani supporters, though, had a very different complaint. A little section of the Ranveer Singh-starring video was closely examined by keen Pakistani viewers, who noted that their country’s flag seemed smaller in contrast to others. After making this revelation, they attacked not just the ICC but also the BCCI for what they saw as a derogatory depiction of Pakistan in the CWC anthem.
Soon after, frustrated Pakistani cricket fans vented on social media. “Cheap stunts from BCCI,” one person said. Not to worry. On November 19, the Pakistani flag will fly proudly over India.
“Yeh Pakistan ka flag asal mein itna chota kyun rakha hay World Cup anthem mein,” another said. They couldn’t have found a larger banner, perhaps one the size of another nation. When it comes to equality, “Har dafa koi na koi cheez kardete hain jis se dil kharab hota hay.”
“Why is the #Pakistan flag so small in the official anthem of the #CWC23 released by ICC?” demanded a third person. Perhaps the #ICC believes Pakistan is a smaller team than the others, or the #ICC is worried that prominently displaying the Pakistan flag might damage the tournament’s image internationally.
In the meanwhile, Pakistani cricket fans have criticized the ICC before. Previously, Pakistani cricket supporters were not happy with the board’s decision to produce a video starring Shah Rukh Khan to launch the CWC 2023 campaign. They saw that the ICC’s advertisement gave their favourite team little screen time. Just bringing up Babar Azam’s squad seemed like an afterthought, yet it infuriated their fervent followers. At that time, players started to vent their dissatisfaction and dismay at how little the ICC seemed to acknowledge the talent of their squad.
On the cricket field, Pakistan will face the Netherlands on October 6 to open their World Cup campaign.
