Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (Sinhala: කුමාර් සංගක්කාර) (born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman and the wicket-keeper in the One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 formats of the game. He captained the national team from 2009 to 2011, stepping down after the 2011 ICC World Cup final. The same year, he was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year at the ICC awards ceremony. In 2012, he was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

Sangakkara is described as one of the "most polished and prudent of batsmen" in cricket. Currently Kumar Sangakkara is placed at number 2 in ICC test rankings. With 8 double centuries, he is the third in the list of Test double century-makers, behind Donald Bradman (12) and Brian Lara (9). He is also the first cricketer ever to score 150+ scores in four consecutive Test matches. As the wicket keeper, he has contributed to the 3rd highest number of dismissals in ODIs—382. It includes 81 stumpings, which is the highest for a wicket keeper in one-day international cricket.

Sangakkara delivered the 2011 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, which gained worldwide attention. He was the youngest person and the first current international player to deliver that lecture, which was widely praised by the cricketing community for its outspoken nature.

On July 28, 2012, Sangakkara and Jayawardene became only the fourth pair to register 30 100-plus international partnerships when they put on 121 in the third ODI against India.