Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sanga” Chokshanada Sangakkara (born 27 October 1977) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain of the Sri Lankan national team. Widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential cricketers, Sangakkara rated as the Greatest ODI batsman of all time in a recent public poll. He is also regarded as one of Sri Lanka’s legendary match-winners and one of the best batsmen to ever played the game for Sri Lanka. Sangakkara has forged many formidable partnerships with long time team mate and friend, Mahela Jayawardene and holds numerous batting records in the modern era across all formats of the game. He is second to Tendulkar in terms of most international runs with 28,016.
A left-handed top-order batsman, he is also a record-breaking wicket-keeper, although he no longer kept wickets at the end of his Test career. Currently, he is the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket and the fifth-highest run scorer in Test cricket.
Sangakkara is described as one of the “most polished and prudent of batsmen” in cricket. Along with AB de Villiers, he has dominated the number one spot in the ICC Test batting rankings between 2005 and 2015. On 12 August 2015, Sangakkara was placed at number 5 in the ICC Test rankings.
Sangakkara was a key member of the team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and was part of the team that made the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. He won the Man of the Match award in the final of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, where he helped the team win their first title.
He was the youngest person and the first active international player to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, which was widely praised by the cricketing community for its outspoken nature.
In terms of a number of innings required, Sangakkara is the fastest batsman to reach 8,000, 9,000, 11,000 and 12,000 runs in Test cricket. He is also joint fastest to 10,000.He won the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2012, Test Cricketer of the Year in 2012, and ODI Cricketer of the Year multiple times in 2011 and 2013. He has also won the LG People’s Choice Award twice, in 2011 and 2012. Sangakkara has regularly featured in the World Test XI and World ODI XI, appearing six times and three times in them, respectively. He was selected as Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2015 edition of Wisden.
He was named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2011 and 2015. He is one of two players to have won this award twice, along with Indian opener Virender Sehwag, who won the award in 2008 and 2009.
On 29 January 2015, Sangakkara became Sri Lanka’s highest ever ODI run scorer, surpassing the previous record of 13,430 runs held by Sanath Jayasuriya. In the same match, he also broke the record for ODI wicketkeeping dismissals, breaking the previous record of 472 held by Adam Gilchrist.
Early life:
Sangakkara born to Kumari Surangana and Swarnakumara Sangakkara, an attorney-at-law at Matale, Sri Lanka in 1977.His parents settled in Kandy, where he spent his childhood. Sangakkara received his primary and secondary education at Trinity College, Kandy, an independent elite private boys’ school situated in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. He has two sisters: Thushari and Saranga, and an elder brother: Vemindra, all who have made national-level achievements during their schooling. Sangakkara also began to play a number of sports: badminton, tennis, swimming, table tennis and cricket at the junior school. He was able to win national colors for badminton and tennis at a young age. The then principal of the Trinity College, Leonard de Alwis, advised his mother to encourage Sangakkara to concentrate on cricket.
His parents hid Tamil families during the Black July riots in 1983.
He represented his school’s under-13 cricket XI under coach Upananda Jayasundera. Berty Wijesinghe coached Sangakkara for under-15, under-17, under-19 and first XI squads.He was awarded The Trinity Lion, the most prestigious prize awarded to a Trinity sportsman, for his exceptional batting and wicket-keeping skills in the 1996 season, at the age of 19. Sangakkara was selected to represent Sri Lankan A cricket team’s tour to South Africa in 199899. His knock of an unbeaten 156 against Zimbabwe A team during a one-day match,helped him secure a place in the Sri Lankan national cricket team later that year.
Sanga was the Senior Prefect (Head Boy) of school, he did his Advanced Level examination in the Arts stream in 1996. He was also awarded the highest honor of Trinity College, the Ryde Gold Medal, for the best all-round student in his year. Following his father, who is a lawyer in Kandy, he entered the Law Faculty of the University of Colombo, but was unable to finish his degree due to his cricketing commitments.Sangakkara was a chorister and played the violin during his school days. He was cited as an inspiration to continue his higher education by Bangladeshi captain Mushfiqur Rahim, upon receiving his master’s degree:
It is appreciated that someone like Sangakkara’s sports personality is shaped by his education. He is not only a wonderful cricketer but he is also ever humble and gentle human-being. He is obviously an inspiration.
International records:
Tests:
Highest aggregate of runs- Sangakkara (12,400) in 134 matches at an Average of 57.40
Most double centuries in a career – Sangakkara has 11 double centuries in tests, second only to 12 double centuries by Don Bradman.
Most scores over 190 in a career (14)
Most number of centuries Sangakkara has 38 centuries in 131 matches. He is fourth in the list, only behind 51 of Sachin Tendulkar, 45 of Jacques Kallis and 41 of Ricky Ponting.
Highest average (qualification 5000 runs.) by a Sri Lankan Sangakkara (57.40)- fifth highest overall after Donald Bradman, Ken Barrington, Wally Hammond and Garfield Sobers.
Most number of half centuries Sangakkara has 52 half-centuries in 131 matches. He is seventh in the list.
Most number of dismissals (includes wicket-keeping) Sangakkara has taken (197 dismissals) in 131 matches.
First player to score 150+ scores in four consecutive Test matches.
Fastest 8,000 runs Sangakkara (152 innings)
Fastest 9,000 runs Sangakkara (172 innings)
Fastest 11,000 runs Sangakkara (208 innings)
Fastest 12,000 runs – Sangakkara (224 innings)
Highest partnership for any wicket 624 for the third wicket by Kumara Sangakkara (287) & Mahela Jayawardene (374) against South Africa in 2006.
Most partnership runs for the 3rd wicket Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene (scored 5890 runs )
Most runs in Year 2014 – 1483 runs in 12 matches with 4 hundreds and 9 fifties with average 71.09
One-Day Internationals:
Highest aggregate of runs – Sangakkara (14,234) in 404 matches at an Average of 41.98. He is second in the list.
First Sri Lankan to pass 14,000 runs.
Most number of half centuries Sangakkara has 93 half-centuries in 404 matches. He is second in the list.
Most number of dismissals (includes wicket-keeping) Sangakkara has taken (501 dismissals = 402 ct. + 99 st.) in 404 matches.
Highest 2nd wicket partnership – 212* by Lahiru Thirimanne & Kumara Sangakkara against England Welington in 2015.
Most stumpings in a career as a wicketkeeper in ODIs 99 by Kumara Sangakkara.
Most runs in Year 2014 – 1256 runs in 28 matches with 4 hundreds and 8 fifties with the average 46.51v
Most runs in cricket in all formats of the game in a calendar year – Sangakkara scored 2868 runs in the year 2014. (1493 Tests + 1256 ODIs + 119 T20Is)
First batsman to score four consecutive hundreds – centuries against Bangladesh (105*), England (117*), Australia (104) and Scotland (124) in the 2015 ICC World Cup.
World Cups:
Most number of dismissals (includes wicket-keeping) Kumara Sangakkara (54) in 25 matches.
Fastest century by a Sri Lankan – Sangakkara scored his 23rd ODI century by 70 balls against England on 1 March 2015.
When considering total runs scored in all forms of the game, Sangakkara is second only to Indian Sachin Tendulkar, where Sangakkara scored 28,016 international runs and Tendulkar has scored 34,357 international runs.
Awards:
Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World, 2011.
Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World, 2014.
LG People’s Choice Award 2011, 2012.
ICC ODI Player of the Year 2011.
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2012.
ICC Cricketer of the Year 2012.
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year 2013.
ICC Test World XI 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012.
ICC ODI World XI 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
Outstanding Achievement in Sport 2015, The Asian Awards.
CEAT International Cricketer of the Year 2015.
Ada Derana Sri Lankan of the Year 2016 Popular Award
Ada Derana Sri Lankan of the Year 2016 Sri Lankan Icon of the Year Award
Dialog SLC ODI Batsman of the Year 2016
Career statistics:
Test
Matches: 134
Runs scored: 12400
100s/50s: 38/52
Top score: 319
ODI
Matches: 404
Runs scored: 14234
100s/50s: 25/93
Top score: 169
