Bangladesh players line up for the national anthems ahead of 2019 Cricket World Cup. (AFP)
During the India vs Bangladesh World Cup match today, the Edgbaston stadium in Birmingham reverberated with two Bengali national anthems. The fact that they are both written by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore sent Twitter into a meltdown. A sea of emotions poured on the micro-blogging site expressing joy, pride and nostalgia. "A proud moment for Bengalis all over the world", wrote a Twitter user. "Beautiful melody. Nostalgia about the common factor," wrote another.
The Bangladeshi national anthem "Amar Sonar Bangla", that translates into "My Golden Bengal", was written by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore in 1905. The melody of the song is from the Baul singer Gagan Harkara's song "Ami Kothay Pabo Tare". "Jana Gana Mana", the Indian national anthem, was originally composed in 1911 as Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore who is often referred as "the Bard of Bengal". It was adopted as India's National Anthem on January 24, 1950.
Here's how Twitter reacted when Rabindranath Tagore-written national anthems were played in Edgbaston stadium:
India will be eyeing a place in the semi-finals with a win in today's World Cup match. Bangladesh have seven points from seven matches and are currently seventh in the World Cup points table while India, with 11 points, are placed second. India need a win to reach the semis in their remaining two games. A loss to Bangladesh will not spell doom to India's campaign but having already tasted defeat, the Indian team will be raring to get back to winning ways. Bangladesh, on the other hand, cannot afford to lose any of their two remaining matches if they want to remain in the game.