Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara
Born October 27, 1977, Matale
Current age 30 years 203 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Asia XI, Central Province, Colombo District Cricket Association, ICC World XI, Kandurata, Kings XI Punjab, Marylebone Cricket Club, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Warwickshire
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	73	120	9	6127	287	55.19	10940	56.00	16	25	817	19	152	20
ODIs	219	202	23	6395	138*	35.72	8674	73.72	7	42	630	27	200	55
T20Is	8	7	0	138	30	19.71	130	106.15	0	0	18	1	3	3
First-class	157	248	19	10337	287	45.13			23	49			308	33
List A	289	268	31	9053	156*	38.19			11	59			269	74
Twenty20	17	16	0	512	94	32.00	341	150.14	0	3	64	11	9	3

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	73	1	6	4	0	-	-	-	4.00	-	0	0	0
ODIs	219	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
T20Is	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	157		132	74	1	1/13		74.00	3.36	132.0		0	0
List A	289	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Twenty20	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics
Test debut	Sri Lanka v South Africa at Galle, Jul 20-23, 2000 scorecard
Last Test	West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, Apr 3-6, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Galle, Jul 5, 2000 scorecard
Last ODI	West Indies v Sri Lanka at Gros Islet, Apr 15, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	England v Sri Lanka at Southampton, Jun 15, 2006 scorecard
Last T20I	Australia v Sri Lanka at Cape Town, Sep 20, 2007 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1997/98
Last First-class	West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, Apr 3-6, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1997/98
Last List A	West Indies v Sri Lanka at Gros Islet, Apr 15, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Nondescripts Cricket Club v Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club at Colombo (Moors), Aug 17, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders at Mohali, May 3, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Within months of breaking into the side at 22, Kumar Sangakkara became one of Sri Lanka's most influential players: a highly talented left-handed strokemaker, a slick wicketkeeper, a sharp-eyed strategist and an even sharper-tongued sledger, capable of riling even the most unflappable characters. His arrival was relatively unexpected, for his domestic performances were relatively modest, but the selectors' judgement was immediately justified as he starred in his first tournament, the Singer Series 2000 against South Africa and Pakistan, as a wicketkeeper-cum-batsman. During the early days his wicketkeeping could be ragged at times, but his effortless batting oozed class from the start. He possesses the grace of David Gower but the attitude of an Australian. His approach is naturally aggressive and his greatest weakness is a capacity to over-react when the adrenaline really starts to pump. At the outset he was happier on the back foot but a fierce work ethic and a deep interest in the theory of batsmanship helped him round off his game, and he is now as comfortable driving through the covers as cutting behind point. His arrival was bad news for the popular Romesh Kaluwitharana, who soon lost his place in both forms of the game, although he made intermittent comebacks as the selectors worried about overburdening Sangakkara. His arrival also helped solve the long-term search for a No. 3 batsman to fill the void left since the retirement of Asanka Gurusinha. The exhausting dual responsibility of batting at No. 3 and keeping wicket is the source of widespread debate and the selectors relieved him of the gloves in one-day cricket after the 2003 World Cup. The change increased his productivity as a batsman but left the team unbalanced and he was handed back the wicketkeeping duties during Australia's tour in 2003-04. Unlike before, this time the extra burden had no effect on his batting. For a time the selectors indicated a desire for him to concentrate on his batting in Test cricket, but the rapid improvement of his keeping means that he was handed back the gloves to give the team balance. A charismatic personality and an astute thinker - he is training to be a lawyer between tours - Sangakarra is tipped as a potential future captain. He was rewarded for his consistent performances with a spot in the ICC World XI for the Super Series one-day matches in October 2005, but was surprisingly overlooked for the Test squad. However, his form has remained superbly consistent for Sri Lanka and he reached new heights in July 2006 when he added a world record 624 for the third wicket, against South Africa at Colombo, and his share was 287. He followed that with back-to-back centuries on tour in New Zealand, twin unbeaten double-centuries against Bangladesh, and a glorious 192 in defeat against Australia, to confirm his standing among the best wicketkeeper-batsmen of all time.
Charlie Austin November 2007

Apr 12, 2008

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kumar Sangakkara watch the ball run away for four
© AFP

Apr 5, 2008

Daren Powell had Kumar Sangakkara caught at gully
© AFP

Mar 26, 2008

Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara lead an appeal against Ramnaresh Sarwan
© AFP

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