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He was nervous singing next to Don.

I agree with twitter comments. Shafqat Ali looked tense.......

What went wrong with Shafqat, he did not memorized National Anthem good, he committed mistake. Ordinary person could have read the national anthem better. Pity.

After all he is human. Show some tolerance!

its ok guys...why serious all the time

Non seriousness on the part of singer. Out of tune, out of passion...

Well done Bachchan Sir! Sorry for Pakistanis. It could happen with anyone. Shafqat may not face the pressure of singing in front of Sr. Bachchan.

Shafaqat fumbled while singing the national anthem.

Thought it was parcham e sitara o hilal. Thank you shafqat:)

should have rahat f ali khan to sing the anthem. it was a shamble

I dont know Pakistani Anthem, but I was pretty sure that he missed a couple of times

Well it reflect the performance of our national heroes...

People criticizing Shafaquat should instead google search Indian national anthem. Even other singer wouldn't have done better either.

i completely agree.

The name of the game is, nothing should be taken lightly in all walks of life.

Very disappointed by Shafqat's performance. He complemented our cricketers performance against India.

It happens in such a huge event don't make it an issue.

Move on....

Alas the team followed Shafqat's lead and played like he sang. We have a good excuse now. If we can't play outstandingly its obviously because we need a better singer.

I got goose bumps,when I heard my national anthem in the voice of bachhan sir...! Extremely flawless..! Pakistani national anthem was also gud..!!

It takes huge courage to go out and sing 2 line of film songs in public and Mr Bachchan, an actor not singer, sang national anthem in front of 60K people so easily...hats off

lol at least try to get the national anthem correct b4 u put all the blame on India which is the only thing Pakistan can do correctly now. he he he..11/0 and the streak continues...

Since Indians chose him so responsibility lies with them for this mess!

Amitji did fabulous job. No music, no orchestra, just his melodious voice. Fantastic. I guess Shafqat did not do proper justice. Pak anthem is beautiful. Maybe the music got better of his voice. I do not know where he faltered, but he was not upto the mark.

I don't know Pakistani anthem to comment about Shafqat's singing, but I'm sure if anyone could sing any better than Bachan!

No surprise. The nation has forgotten the values of the founder. The people have done exactly opposite of 'Unity, Faith and Discipline'. Most of the batsmen have forgotten the basic batting technique. So what if Shafqat forgot the NAtional Anthem.

I am sure non of our elected leaders could sing as well if asked to !

Let's skip the faults praise the efforts of singing at such a amazing event

It is hard to believe that someone of his caliber does not know the importance of national anthem.

Poor performance, lustreless effort, mundane and monotone. Not prepared. He had the stage and in India. He should have sang it with Passion, prepared, correct intonations, rhythm , and memorable. Something that would have stayed in the minds of Indians for a long time. But it was a damp squid. An embarrassment and in keeping with the teams performance.

yes.. "O too nishan e maazi shaan e haal" He might be "non-government school" product

Oh God! ...so this was the reason that pak team could not focus on batting and later Afridi forgot to bring back Amir to bowl his quota. And afridi also forgot to bowl length ball on turning pitch and bowled fuller.

Maybe Jagannath Azad's anthem for Pakistan is better than Hafeez Jullundri's ? Easier to sing? Just a "secular" thought here?:):) Ouch! Me and my footloose fingers on the keyboard???:):):)

He must have met Pakistan team players before singing the anthem and learnt how to perform.

Elementary students would have performed well :(

It was unbelievably bad!

Firstly. what a warm welcome by the Indians rolling red carpet for us. How elegantly did Amitabh sang and what did out our professional singer did?

BAD performance by Pak team n singer

It's hyped so much , and with the Eden Garden crowd anybody would get tense , still singing wrong or missing words of national anthem not acceptable.

This is what our Pakistanis are good at after all.... trolling and ridiculing others instead of learning to tolerate.

Chairman PCB and the Foreign office to investigate this poor show and take measures to avoid such mistakes in future,By any means shafqat could not represent Pakistan and was not even prepared for National ANTHEM, In future due care be made in selection of people representing Pakistani culture , society and above all the nation in such mega events. PAKISTAN team to be ready for other events and forget the yesterday defeat.

I am a Indian and great fan of this singer ... it is ok some times it happens do not make it a bg issue let it go

Pls dont get excited over trifles.

Shafqat was a wrong choice at first place, who did this. Ali Azmat or Ali Zafar where the right people for that job........... this is basic.

One has to look at the spirit rather than splitting hairs. He was there singing National Anthem of Pakistan in front of a crowd of 70000 in a country not considered friendly. It should be a proud moment for every citizen in Pakistan from this perspective. It was similar to allowing French Army to march past on Rajpath , in New Delhi on Republic Day this year. I hope this will help in soothing relationship. It is not important who wins or loose on a particular day. Game was played well in good atmosphere is important. In game, you loose some , you win some.

For the first time in my entire life of 50 yrs I really liked the Indian national anthem more than Pakistan's. Most probably because Amitabh's vocal cords made the difference. He has an amazing voice I must say. On the other hand the so called classical singer Mr Shafqat Amanat Ali failed miserably to deliver Pakistan's national anthem to the best of his ability. I was busy eating my breakfast when he started to sing the national anthem and I almost choked my self with the omlette and bread that was in my mouth as I first thought that maybe someone had asked the nawab Mr Virender Sehwag or Veeru I must say to sing the Pakistani national anthem but to my biggest disbelief the face that I saw was no other but of Mr Shafqat Amanat Ali. Right then and there I knew that Pakistan would loose this match as the first impression is usually the last. I just hope he is never again asked to perform live ever again.

Such a terrible performance by this singer. Insimply could not believe my own ears. Bachan, a actor, even proved to be a better singer. Shafqat Amanat Ali should never be invited to destroy Pakistan's national anthem ever again!

If the bugger could not sing the National Anthem, who selected him. We should learn to keep people accountable or continue to pay here and there.

I did not know his name now I will never forget Shafqat Amanat for insulting Pakistan in front of over 60,000 people of Kolkata.

Bengal Cricket Association gave good honour to Pakistan to present its best singer to sing the national anthem of Pakistan on India's soil. Pakistan could have made use of it.

That was most terribly sung anthem i've ever heard. Depressing, out of tune and two errors.

Come on guys. He may have been nervous? I'm sure he did his best so let it be.

Agree with all the tweets above. Amitabh's 's rendition was soulful and heartfelt yet powerful. Shafqat's was none of the above, infact I could barely hear him in the beginning and it was all downhill from there.

Even a bathroom singer would be a better choice to present this GREAT anthem, sorry to say !

They should just let the police band play the national anthems period instead of copying the west where its a tradition to have celebrities sing the national anthem.

Shafqat a brilliant singer.. failed to do justice to this great anthem. There is so much strength, energy and meaning in the composition, he failed to bring that element out in his rendition. He should have rehearsed well and his body language also was missing the zing.

Shameful Absolutely shameful!!! Not a single Pakistani came prepared. for the rest of the concerts in his life(if he has any) he should start with sing the anthem!

The whole spectacle was splendid and there was every bit of sporting rivalry without doubt.

The anthem of any nation is its pride and honor, and it's soulful rendition evinces that value. We missed it in what was sung at Eden Gardens. It was not our national anthem. Missed Atif Aslam a lot.

Agree AB was much better SAA. sadly

Very poor performance, in fact it went with your cricket team, both useless and out of moral. shame you are no longer a nation only a stooge of kind.

I thought he sang well.

This is state of affairs in the country, everybody takes his responsibility casually, there is no professionalism in any sphere or area of life. Pakistani institutions have finished and no seriousness of any sort, It is all "who cares" and "Sub chalta hai" attitude! Look how politician present themselves, look how news anchors speak on TV., etc.

why could'nt Shahid Afridi stand still during the anthem?

No surprises. This is the state of affairs from top to bottom in this country. Shameful for all of us. Extremely shameful.

Shafqat performed well at the National Anthem much much better than most of the critics of him. He only shortened the National Anthem according to the occasion. His performance was very good and applauded by the audience of the stadium. We can not compare Shafqat with the Legend Amitabh Bachchan who is respected and admired by global community including the people of Pakistan.

forgive him,he is human and silly mistake.he under pressure like Pak team.

By the way how many of our boys in green know the National Anthem? Look at that facial expressions and you'll get the answer.

Don't worry guys ........ Both the guys sang their respective countries National Anthem. Imagine in front of thousands of people in stadium and millions on television, it was obvious to get nervous. But respect them they brought proud to their countries.

I think this mistake is inexcusable and those people who are helm of the affairs must be punished. It is a SHAME and Insult and no apology can brought back the integrity. Next time please appoint a person who knows Urdu well and genuinely patriotic.

Cool it guys. Even Indians may have found Bachhan's rendition of the Indian national anthem a tad on the flat side, but it's alright. It's AB after all. The feelings, emotions and patriotism that the anthem evokes is more important than a couple of mistakes or oneupmanship.

I dont think Shafqat made a mistake though he did murmur a bit at that point. However, what's most irksome is that he COMPLETELY LACKED patriotic spirit, fervor and passion that should have been evident all over his face while singing the national anthem. He sang it without any feeling. Why did they EVER choose him! Couldnt they find someone else!

He clearly was not into it, did the bloopers twice.

That was not the mistake...that was the blunder..... worst is "he still thinks that he did not made any mistake" terrible...

To me a singer must not have performed this rather a person who is good, with excellent command on language, for e.g. Zia Moheyyudin or Anwar Maqsood.

The core difference which I feel between the two anthems was that, Anthem sung by Mr. Bachan was almost with out music so his complete focus was over the lyrics but in case of Shafqat who really seems disturbed with the background Anthem Music from its start and that cause him a blooper at one time. I agree that Mr. Bachan was superb with his sound but Shafqat seems helpless due to sound system not suitably supporting his voice, most probably disturbing him. Anyway this has created a Drama for many people and should not had happened at the crucial stage.

We as citizens of Pakistan are easy going in most patriotic areas. Having said that I see no room for pardon for our singer. He should have come clean on the initial onset and should have said "I am sorry". The public at large will not be blamed if they think that the good singer have taken some money form India for deliberately messing up -- Thus creating an impression world wide that Pakistani Citizens representing Pakistan can not remember the wordings of the national anthem as they have no sense of pride in being a Pakistani.

First off, he did not start with 'Pak Sar Zameen Shad Bad'. He was mumbling in the beginning of the Athem. Secondly, he said, "parcham -o-Sitara-o-hilal". It should have been, "parcham-e-sitara-o-hilal" The he completely bungled the second stanza. On top of it all, he is tryining to defend himself bu saying that he did not forget national anthem. How sad?

meanwhile in india a police complaint has been filed against amitabh bachhan for singing the indian anthem wrong. and rightly so... even amitabh got it wrong

No worries.. All of you those who know it well and sing it well, never really mean it anyways. So why take your frustrations out on Shafqat. Learn to live and tolerate...

@Surya Kant Fantastic!

Mr. Bachchan sang with emotions which Shafqat lacked.