Watch: South Africa Cricketers Struggle To Say 'Thiruvananthapuram'. Shashi Tharoor Reacts
The struggle of South African cricketers to pronounce Thiruvananthapuram was captured in a video which has gone viral on the social media.
The South African cricket team has arrived in India for the Cricket World Cup 2023 and they have set their base currently in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The South Africa cricketers started their practice and will play a Cricket World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand on Monday. However, it is the name of the city that left few of the players scratching their heads and their struggle to pronounce ‘Thiruvananthapuram' was captured in a video which has gone viral on the social media.
In the video which was shared by politician Shashi Tharoor, most of the South African cricketers struggled to get the pronunciation correct and came up with hilarious sounding words. However, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi were able to say the name correctly.
Heinrich Klaasen failed to get the name right on multiple occasions and finally decided to learn the old city of the name – Trivandrum. “The South Africans have arrived in Thiruvananthapuram! But can they tell anyone where they are?,” Tharoor wrote along with the video on X (formerly Twitter).
The South African have arrived in Thiruvananthapuram ! But can they tell anyone where they are? pic.twitter.com/N9LnyVLVH9
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 1, 2023
The World Cup warm-up match between South Africa and Afghanistan at Thiruvananthapuram was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Friday.
Heavy rain frustrated both sides who now have one further warm-up to get the plans in order before the tournament gets underway next week.
The Proteas, whose captain Temba Bavuma has had to travel home for family reasons, will hope the weather improves in Thiruvananthapuram before their final warm-up against New Zealand on Monday.
Bavuma is expected to re-join the squad for South Africa's opening match of the tournament against Sri Lanka in Delhi on October 7.
Afghanistan have a final warm-up against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday before opening their tournament against Bangladesh in Dharamshala, also on October 7.
(With AFP inputs)
Kagiso Rabada
Lungi Ngidi
South Africa Cricket Team