US President Donald Trump's pronunciation of names of Indian cricket greats lights up social media

The vast crowd lapped it up, but reaction around the world was one of more amusement as US President Donald Trump had a bit of a tongue twisting problem with the names of two of India’s greatest cricket stars.

President Trump was addressing thousands of people packed into the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad as he kicked off his first official visit to India Monday.

Standing on a glass-fronted dais in the 110,000-capacity venue, Trump praised India’s Bollywood movie industry before moving on to the sport of cricket, which is like a religion across India.

To the crowd’s delight, he singled out Sachin Tendulkar, India’s most revered cricket star and one of the world’s greatest batsmen, and captain Virat Kohli, who is also an icon in the country.

“This is a country where your people cheer on some of the world’s great crickets players from ‘Soo-chin Tendulkerr’ to ‘Virot Ko-lee,’” the president, said to a huge roar.

But the reaction on social media was more mixed about his pronunciations.

Even the governing body of world cricket joined in, with a tweet poking fun at Trump’s less-than-perfect grasp of their names.

“Sach-, Such-, Satch-, Sutch-, Sooch-, Anyone know?” it posted with an accompanying GIF.

It’s not the first time Trump has had pronunciation difficulties, with Namibia, Tanzania, Nepal and Bhutan providing tricky for the president in the past.

President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were speaking at the “Namaste Trump” event at the start of his 36-hour visit to India.

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