Trump stumbles over names of Indian cricket greats
US President Donald Trump gave a special mention to cricket greats Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli during a visit to India on Monday – but it was probably the first time he had spoken their names.
Soo-chin, V-rot: #Trump stumbles over names of Indian cricket greatshttps://t.co/hm3zbFWiCv
📹REUTERS pic.twitter.com/S6JLco4hMr
— Tribune Sports (@ETribuneSports) February 25, 2020
In a speech at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad – the world’s largest cricket stadium – Trump incorrectly pronounced the name of India’s greatest ever player as “Soo-chin Tendul-kerr”.
He almost scored with Kohli, whose first name came out as “V-rot”, slightly off “V-rut”.
Cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, jokingly asked on its Twitter account whether anyone knew if “Sooch-”, “Sutch-”, or other variations of Tendulkar’s first name were correct.
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Trump said the stadium was “where your people cheer on some of the world’s greatest cricket players from Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli,” bringing a smile to the lips of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and applause from the crowd.
The US president also tripped over other words, including Ahmedabad (“Ahba-bard”) and tea-seller chaiwalla (“cheewalla”), and he himself chuckled at his attempt to pronounce the name of Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda (“Swami Vivekamandan”).