Donald Trump mangled his pronunciation of India’s most beloved cricketer in a series of stumbles on the first day of his state visit to the country.
The US president was addressing more than 100,000 people at the start of a 36-hour visit to the country, when he spoke about India’s love of the game in the world’s largest cricket stadium.
But in referencing Sachin Tendulkar, who racked up 100 centuries in Tests and One Day Internationals for India before retiring in 2013, Trump mispronounced the Little Master’s first name.
“This is the country where your people cheer on some of the world’s greatest cricket players, from Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli,” he said, pronouncing the batsman’s name ‘Soo-chin’ rather than ‘Sat-chin’.
The crowd did not seem to mind, loudly cheering the mention of their hero.
In his speech, Trump also cited a famous 19th century Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda, but it came out as ’Vivekamumund’, to the delight of the crowd, many of whom wore Trump masks and ‘Namaste (hello) Trump’ hats.
Trump further tried to praise his host, prime minister Narendra Modi, for achieving high office despite his humble origins as a tea seller, or ‘chai wala’.
“The life of prime minister Modi underscores the limitless promise of this great nation. He started out by his father’s side as a ‘chee wala’, a tea-seller,” Trump said, drawing laughter, cheers and jokes on Twitter.
Earlier, Trump visited a former home of independence leader Mohandas Gandhi, and capped his whirlwind day with a sunset tour of the Taj Mahal.