Kumar Sangakkara

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Kumar Sangakkara
කුමාර සංගක්කාර
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Personal information
Full name Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara
Born (1977-10-27) 27 October 1977 (age 34)
Matale, Sri Lanka
Nickname Sanga
Batting style Left-handed
Bowling style Right arm off break
Role Wicket-keeper, batsman
International information
National side Sri Lanka
Test debut (cap 84) 20 July 2000 v South Africa
Last Test 29 March 2012 v England
ODI debut (cap 93) 5 July 2000 v Pakistan
Last ODI 20 March 2012 v Bangladesh
Domestic team information
Years Team
1997–present Nondescripts
2008–2010 Kings XI Punjab
2007 Warwickshire
2011–present Deccan Chargers
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 107 325 195 421
Runs scored 9,361 10,472 13,950 14,233
Batting average 55.39 38.21 47.93 39.98
100s/50s 28/38 13/71 37/62 21/92
Top score 287 138* 287 156*
Balls bowled 78 – 204 –
Wickets – – 1 –
Bowling average – – 112.00 –
5 wickets in innings – – – –
10 wickets in match – – – –
Best bowling – – 1/13 –
Catches/stumpings 167/20 315/80 328/33 417/105
Source: Cricinfo, 29 March 2012

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara [1] (Sinhala: කුමාර් සංගක්කාර), or Kumar Sangakkara (born 27 October 1977, Matale, Sri Lanka) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and the former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman. He used to play as a wicket-keeper and top-order batsman in all forms of the game, but has stopped keeping wicket in Tests as his batting average is significantly higher in Tests when he plays as a pure batsman.

Sangakkara began his career as a batsman but subsequently became a wicket-keeper. His batting has developed to such an extent that he once topped the LG ICC Test batting rankings. However, in 2006 he handed over wicket-keeping duties to Prasanna Jayawardene in Tests and has since played as a specialist batsman. He remains Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper in One Day International and Twenty20 cricket. He captained the national team from 2009 to 2011, stepping down after the 2011 World Cup.

He has been ranked as the number 1 Test batsman in the world several times during his career.[2] Sangakkara (8) is third in the list of Test double century-makers, behind Donald Bradman (12) and Brian Lara (9). He scored his eighth double ton in Test cricket on 21 October 2011 against Pakistan.[3]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara was born to Kumari and Chokshanada Sangakkara at Matale in 1977. Sangakkara received his primary and secondary education at Trinity College, Kandy, a private boys' school. He played both cricket and tennis at school and the school's principal, Leonard de Alwis, advised his mother he should concentrate on cricket.[4]

[edit] International career

[edit] Early career

At the age of 22 Sangakkara made his Test debut on 20 July 2000, keeping wicket in the first fixture of a three-match series against South Africa. Sri Lanka won the match and in his side's only innings Sangakarra batted at the fall of the third wicket and scored 23 runs before he was dismissed leg before wicket by spin bowler Nico Boje.[5] Before reaching his first Test century, he was twice dismissed in the 90s, once against each of South Africa and England. In August 2001, India toured Sri Lanka for three Tests and in the opening match Sangakkara scored his first century.[6] His innings of 105 not out at number three helped set up a ten-wicket victory for Sri Lanka.[7] Later that year Sangakkara scored his second Test century, this time in the first of three matches against the touring West Indians.[8]

[edit] Vice-captain

When Sri Lanka toured Bangladesh in February 2006 regular captain Marvan Atapattu was injured and Mahela Jayawardene became captain while Sangakarra was made vice-captain.[9] Pakistan toured Sri Lanka for two Test and three ODIs in March 2006, and with Atapattu still injured Jayawardene and Sangakkara remained captain and vice-captain respectively.[10] The pair had only expected to hold the positions on an interim basis, but extended into a third series as Atapattu failed to recover in time tour tour England in April and ended up filling the roles full time.[11]

On 6 December 2007 he was named as the new Number 1 batsman in the LG ICC Test player rankings with a rating of 938, the highest rating ever achieved by a Sri Lankan player, and became the first batsman ever to score in excess of 150 in four consecutive tests.[12] His skill was recognised worldwide when he earned selection for the ICC World XI One Day International team that competed against Australia in the Johnnie Walker Series in October 2005. Despite the World XI losing all of the one-day games by considerable margins, Sangakkara left the series with some credit, averaging 46.

Sangakkara holds the record for fastest 8,000 runs (152 innings) in Test cricket. He broke the previous record set by Sachin Tendulkar (154 innings) during the third Test against India on 6 August 2010. He also holds the record for fastest 9,000 runs (172 innings) in Test cricket. He broke the previous record set by Rahul Dravid (176 innings) during the second Test against Pakistan on 3 November 2011.[13]

Sangakkara was billed as a future captain of Sri Lanka.[14][15] On Sri Lanka's tour to England in May 2006, he was named the vice-captain of the side.

On 3 March 2009, a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team convoy in Pakistan injured several players, including Sangakkara, and also injuring six other people in the convoy. After this incident ICC resolved to never host matches in Pakistan.

[edit] Captaincy

Sangakkara's record as captain
  Matches Won Lost Drawn No result
Test[16] 15 5 3 7 –
ODI[17] 45 27 14 – 4
T20I[18] 21 12 9 – –

At the age of 31 and with the experience of 80 Tests and 246 ODIs, succeeded Jayawardene as Sri Lanka's captain in all formats. His first engagement in the role was the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 hosted by England in June.[19]

A month in advance of the 2011 World Cup in March, Sangakkara decided that he would resign the captaincy after the tournament.[20] Sri Lanka reached the final of the tournament.[21] Throughout the tournament Sangakkara was in prolific form with the bat scoring 465 runs from 9 matches and was the third highest run scorer behind team-mate Tillakaratne Dilshan and India's Sachin Tendulkar. Days after guiding Sri Lanka to the finals of the World Cup, Sangakkara announced to the public he was stepping down as captain of the T20 and ODI teams. He offered to continue as Test captain if deemed necessary for transition to new skipper;[22] in the event Dilshan was appointed captain across all formats.[23] Reflecting on the decision afterwards"captaining Sri Lanka is a job that ages you very quickly ... It's rarely a job you will last long in ... I also had a two-year stint, and I enjoyed it at times, certainly on the field where our results showed we were one of the top two sides in the world for one-and-a-half years, especially in the shorter form of the game."[20]

[edit] Post-captaincy

Sangakkara (right) resigned the captaincy after the 2011 World Cup and was succeeded by Tillakaratne Dilshan (left).

Sri Lanka's first fixture after the World Cup was a tour of England beginning in May. During the second match of a three Test series Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sangakkara's successor as captain, suffered a broken thumb. Sangakkara filled-in while Dilshan was off the pitch and formally assumed the captaincy for the final Test.[24][25] The match ended in a draw and the series ended in a 1–0 victory for England; Sangakarra scored a century in the match, his first against England in nine Tests.[26]

Kumar Sangakkara delivered the 2011 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lords.[27] In 2012 he was named one of Wisden's five Cricketer's of the Year.[28]

[edit] Domestic cricket

Sangakkara plays his domestic cricket for Nondescripts in Sri Lanka. Sangakkara has played English county cricket with Warwickshire in the 2007 County Championship. In 2010 Sangakkara was contracted to represent Lancashire in the 2010 County Championship,[29] but never represented the club because of international commitments.[30]

[edit] Personal life

He is the youngest of four siblings and has a brother and two sisters one of whom is a sportswoman herself – a keen Tennis player. Sangakkara is married to his longtime partner, Yehali [2] and is currently a law undergraduate at the Sri Lanka Law College, following in the footsteps of his father, who is also a leading lawyer in Kandy.

On 30 June 2009 Sangakkara's wife gave birth to twins, a girl and boy.[31]

[edit] Playing style

Sangakkara likes to hit the ball square of the wicket on the off-side and upon making a century consistently continues on past 150. Sangakkara has won a certain degree of admiration for his clever use of sledging and is one of few cricketers who are willing to talk about it openly. In an interview in 2004 he explained his approach to sledging:

The public perception of sledging is to go out there and abuse someone in obscene language, questioning their parentage or sexual preferences. That kind of abuse does not belong on the field of play. Sledging, as coined and pioneered by the Australians, is a measured comment designed to get a reaction out of a player. It could be any reaction: a bit of anger, a show of arrogance, a comment, a shake of the head, or a slump of the shoulders.
—Kumar Sangakarra in 2004[32]

[edit] Player statistics

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Sangakkara's Test match batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).

[edit] Test performance against each opponent

As of 2 April 2012:

Opponent Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average
 Australia 9 17 0 726 192 1 5 42.70
 Bangladesh 11 14 2 876 222* 2 5 73.00
 England 19 34 1 1,205 152 2 6 36.52
 India 15 24 2 1,257 219 5 2 57.13
 New Zealand 8 14 3 651 156* 3 2 59.18
 Pakistan 13 25 2 1,830 230 7 7 79.56
 South Africa 15 28 0 1,362 287 3 5 48.46
 West Indies 12 19 2 918 157* 3 5 54.00
 Zimbabwe 5 6 0 536 270 2 1 89.33
TOTAL 107 181 12 9,361 287 28 38 55.39

[edit] Test centuries

The following table illustrates a summary of the Test centuries scored by Kumar Sangakkara.

  • In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
  • The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career
Kumar Sangakkara's Test centuries
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
[1] 105* 10  India Galle, Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium 2001
[2] 140 14  West Indies Galle, Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium 2001
[3] 128 17  Zimbabwe Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2002
[4] 230 20  Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 2002
[5] 270 38  Zimbabwe Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club 2004
[6] 232 42  South Africa Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2004
[7] 138 44  Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium 2004
[8] 157 48  West Indies Kandy, Sri Lanka Asgiriya Stadium 2005
[9] 185 56  Pakistan Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2006
[10] 287 61  South Africa Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2006
[11] 100* 63  New Zealand Christchurch, New Zealand Jade Stadium 2006
[12] 156* 64  New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Basin Reserve 2006
[13] 200* 66  Bangladesh Colombo, Sri Lanka P. Saravanamuttu Stadium 2007
[14] 222* 67  Bangladesh Kandy, Sri Lanka Asgiriya Stadium 2007
[15] 192 68  Australia Hobart, Australia Bellerive Oval 2007
[16] 152 69  England Kandy, Sri Lanka Asgiriya Stadium 2007
[17] 144 76  India Colombo, Sri Lanka P. Sarawanamuttu stadium 2008
[18] 104 80  Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi stadium 2009
[19] 130* 83  Pakistan Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2009
[20] 109 85  New Zealand Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2009
[21] 137 88  India Mumbai, India Brabourne Stadium 2009
[22] 103 89  India Galle, Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium 2010
[23] 219 90  India Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club 2010
[24] 150 93  West Indies Colombo, Sri Lanka R. Premadasa Stadium 2010
[25] 119 97  England Southampton, England Rose Bowl 2011
[26] 211 101  Pakistan Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed Stadium 2011
[27] 144 103  Pakistan Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium 2011
[28] 108 105  South Africa Durban, South Africa Kingsmead Cricket Ground 2011

[edit] One Day International centuries

Kumar Sangakkara's ODI centuries
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
[1] 100* 86  Pakistan Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Sharjah Stadium 2003
[2] 103* 87  Kenya Sharjah, UAE Sharjah C.A. Stadium 2003
[3] 101 100  Australia Colombo, Sri Lanka R. Premadasa Stadium 2004
[4] 138* 141  India Jaipur, India Sawai Mansingh Stadium 2005
[6] 110 183  India Rajkot, India Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground 2007
[7] 128 213  India Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2008
[8] 101 221  Bangladesh Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 2008
[9] 112 222  Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium 2008
[10] 121 223  Bangladesh Karachi, Pakistan National stadium 2008
[11] 111 288  New Zealand Mumbai, India Wankhede Stadium 2011
[12] 102 311  South Africa Johannesburg, South Africa New Wanderers Stadium 2012
[13] 105 318  India Hobart, Australia Bellerive Oval 2012

[edit] Product and brand endorsements

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Sangakkara, KC". Espn Cricinfo. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/50710.html. 
  2. ^ http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/489668.html
  3. ^ http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/22102011/63/sangakkara-hits-double-century.html
  4. ^ Principal Delighted With Former Student Sangakkara, Cricket World, 14 July 2007, http://www.cricketworld.com/principal-delighted-with-former-student-sangakkara/12329.htm, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  5. ^ f45207 t1504 Sri Lanka v South Africa: South Africa in Sri Lanka 2000 (1st Test), CricketArchive, http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/70/70234.html, retrieved 4 April 2012 
  6. ^ Clementine, Rex (16 August 2001), Sangakkara: It feels good to get back in form, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/96334.html, retrieved 4 April 2012 
  7. ^ f45979 t1555 Sri Lanka v India: India in Sri Lanka 2001 (1st Test), CricketArchive, http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/72/72772.html, retrieved 4 April 2012 
  8. ^ Scholarly centurion has Sri Lankan victory in his sights, ESPNcricinfo, 15 November 2001, http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/107995.html, retrieved 4 April 2012 
  9. ^ Sri Lanka announce squad to tour Bangladesh, ESPNcricinfo, 15 February 2006, http://www.espncricinfo.com/bdeshvsl/content/story/237282.html, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  10. ^ Austin, Charlie, Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 2005–06, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/291205.html, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  11. ^ Atapattu will miss England tour, BBC Sport, 17 April 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/4886334.stm, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  12. ^ LG ICC Cricket Rankings retrieved 3 March 2008
  13. ^ http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283189.html
  14. ^ LMD – The Makings of a Captain retrieved 14 July 2008
  15. ^ Cricinfo – Kumar Sangakkara profile retrieved 14 July 2008
  16. ^ Sri Lanka captains' playing record in Test matches, CricketArchive, http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/SriLanka/Test/Miscellaneous/Captains/Playing_Record_Captain_Overall.html, retrieved 2012-04-06 
  17. ^ Sri Lanka captains' playing record in ODI matches, CricketArchive, http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/SriLanka/ODI/Miscellaneous/Captains/Playing_Record_Captain_Overall.html, retrieved 2012-04-06 
  18. ^ Sri Lanka captains' playing record in International Twenty20 matches, CricketArchive, http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/SriLanka/International_Twenty20/Miscellaneous/Captains/Playing_Record_Captain_Overall.html, retrieved 2012-04-06 
  19. ^ Thawfeeq, Sa'adi (11 March 2009), Sangakkara appointed SL captain for World Twenty20, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/394862.html, retrieved 4 April 2012 
  20. ^ a b Miller, Andrew (15 June 2011), Reluctant Sangakkara admits captaincy headache, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-sri-lanka-2011/content/story/519173.html, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  21. ^ Island Cricket (10 March 2011), Sri Lanka qualify for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 quarter-finals, Island Cricket, http://www.islandcricket.lk/columns/trevor-chesterfield/9996510/sri-lanka-qualify-for-icc-cricket-world-cup-2011-quarter-finals, retrieved 10 March 2011 
  22. ^ [1]
  23. ^ Island Cricket (18 April 2011), Sri Lanka appoint new captain, Sangakkara not retained as Test skipper, Island Cricket, http://www.islandcricket.lk/news/srilankacricket/107210418/sri-lanka-appoint-new-captain-sangakkara-not-retained-as-test-skipper, retrieved 18 April 2011 
  24. ^ Dilshan ruled out of Rose Bowl Test, ESPNcricinfo, 14 June 2011, http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-sri-lanka-2011/content/story/519065.html, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  25. ^ Sangakkara felt a responsibility – Mahela, ESPNcricinfo, 14 June 2011, http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-sri-lanka-2011/content/current/story/519076.html, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  26. ^ Miller, Andrew (20 June 2011), Sangakkara finally breaks his England hoodoo, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-sri-lanka-2011/content/story/519966.html, retrieved 6 April 2012 
  27. ^ Sangakkara, Kumar (6 July 2011), Sangakkara's MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/522183.html, retrieved 15 April 2012 
  28. ^ Hopps, David (11 April 2012), Kumar Sangakkara, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/560797.html, retrieved 15 April 2012 
  29. ^ Kumar Sangakkara signs up with Lancashire, ESPNcricinfo, 28 December 2009, http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/current/story/441499.html, retrieved 28 December 2009 
  30. ^ Lancashire sign Katich and Chanderpaul, ESPNcricinfo, 22 April 2010, http://www.cricinfo.com/lancashire/content/current/story/456874.html, retrieved 22 April 2010 
  31. ^ – Photo:Kumar Sangakkara's twins as seen on Living Magazine
  32. ^ Austin, Charlie (12 December 2004), The individualist, ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/135846.html, retrieved 4 April 2012 
  33. ^ "Viva malted milk relaunched – Kumar Sangakkara brand envoy". www.sundayobserver.lk. 9 April 2006. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2006/04/09/bus07.html. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 
  34. ^ "Hutchison – Kumar Sangakkara brand ambassador". www.hutch.lk. 9 April 2006. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20110722145510/http://www.hutch.lk/press14.htm. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 
  35. ^ "Sangakkara to bat for Nations Trust Bank". www.dailynews.lk. 23 December 2008. http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/12/23/bus15.asp. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 
  36. ^ "Coke product focuses on ‘be positive and happy’". sundaytimes.lk. 2 March 2008. http://sundaytimes.lk/080302/FinancialTimes/ft322.html. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 
  37. ^ "Kumar Sangakkara- Brand Ambassador for DIMO". www.asiantribune.com. 22 August 2008. http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/12853. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 
  38. ^ "Sri Lankan cricket star, Mr. Kumar Sangakkara as the IYOR Ambassador". www.iyor.org. 21 December 2007. http://www.iyor.org/focalpoints/orgs/SACRTF/default.asp. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Mahela Jayawardene		 Sri Lankan national cricket captain
2009–2011		 Succeeded by
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Sri Lanka squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka squad – 2007 Cricket World Cup Runners-Up
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka squad – 2007 ICC World Twenty20
Sri Lanka
Muttiah Muralitharan was named in the original squad but injuries led to him being withdrawn. Dilruwan Perera was sent as his replacement.
Sri Lanka squad – 2009 ICC World Twenty20 Runners-Up
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka squad – 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Semi-Finalists
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka squad – 2011 Cricket World Cup Runners-Up
Sri Lanka
Suraj Randiv replaced Angelo Mathews due to injury
Deccan Chargers – current squad
Batsmen with 10,000 or more runs in ODI cricket
Batsmen with a Test batting average above 50
Australia
England
India
Pakistan
South Africa
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe
Minimum 20 innings. Current players are listed in italics.
Wicket-keepers with 300 ODI dismissals
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kumar_Sangakkara&oldid=492206268"
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