On his 36-hour visit to India, US President Donald Trump featured in the ‘Namaste Trump’ event at the Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday. In front of more than a lakh people, Trump was all in praise for India.
He even stated that Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli are among the greatest cricketers of all times. However, he failed to get the pronunciation of Sachin’s name correctly.
Even the International Cricket Council (ICC) could not help but take a dig at the US President for mispronouncing his name.
Here are 5 other cricketers’ names he might mispronounce:
Muttiah Muralitharan
The former Sri Lankan cricketer is widely regarded as the greatest bowler in the history of the sport. He has the most number of wickets in both Test matches as well as ODIs- 800 and 534 wickets respectively.
Muralitharan wouldn’t need to bowl a ‘Doosra’ to deceive Trump as pronouncing his name might turn out to be a little too tough for POTUS.
Mpumelelo Pommie Mbangwa
Mpumelelo “Pommie” Mbangwa is a former Zimbabwe cricketer. He had made his International debut in 1996. He played for the Zimbabwe national team for about 6 years. He was a fast bowler and played as many as 15 Tests in which he picked 32 wickets. In 29 ODIs, he picked 11 wickets.
Mbangwa can now regularly be seen in live broadcasts of the game and is a popular commentator.
Lonwabo Tsotsobe
35-year-old South African cricketer Lonwabo Tsotsobe was a wicket-taking pace bowling option in his prime. He made his debut for the South African team in 2009. He picked 9 wickets in the 5 Tests that he played. On the other hand, he had 91 wickets against his name in the 61 ODIs that he played for the Proteas.
Even in the T20 format, he played 23 matches in which he picked 18 wickets. Tsotsobe last played a match for South Africa in 2014 but if Trump and Tsotsobe were to be put in a contest and asked to pronounce each other’s name correctly, chances are that Tsotsobe would have the last laugh.
Faoud Bacchus
Sheik Faoud Ahamul Fasiel Bacchus is a former West Indian cricketer who made his international debut in 1978. His international career lasted four years. During this period, he played 19 Tests and 29 ODIs.
Do you think the most powerful political leader in the world would be able to pronounce his name the right way?
Eric Szwarczynski
37-year-old Netherland’s Eric Szwarczynski has not been in the scheme of national team selection for the past several years. However, he has played 41 ODIs in which he scored 10 half-centuries. He even played 15 T20Is for his national team.
The thought of trying to get Trump pronounce his name is… funny?