Kumar Sangakkara Birthday Special: Lesser-Known Facts About Former Sri Lanka Captain You Need To Know As He Turns 45
Sangakkara is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He was also rated the top three batsmen in the world across all three formats of the game at various times of his career. He currently is the director of cricket and coach of the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals besides being a cricket commentator.
Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, he used to captain the side in all three formats and also has his name inducted in the ICC Hall Of Fame. Sangakkara is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He was also rated the top three batsmen in the world across all three formats of the game at various times of his career. He currently is the coach of the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals and also a cricket commentator. Virat Kohli Returns to Top 10 in the Latest ICC Batsmen Rankings for T20Is
Born in Matale Sri Lanka on October 27, 1977, Sangakkara was a left-handed top-order batsman. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in July 2000 in an ODI match against Pakistan and later that month played his first Test match against the South African side. His Career spanned almost 15 years and he has scored a total of 28,016 runs across all formats. At his retirement, he was the second-highest run scorer in ODI cricket only behind Sachin Tendulkar. He also helped the Sri Lankan side to win their first T20 World Cup in 2014.The cricket legend Kumara Sangakkara will be celebrating his 45th birthday on October 27, so let’s take a look at some of the lesser-known facts about him:
- In June 2021 Sangakkara became the second Sri Lankan to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame after Muttiah Muralitharan.
- He has scored more than 10,000 runs in both Test and ODI cricket and is also the player to score the fastest 12,000 runs in Test cricket.
- Sangakkara has scored the second most double centuries in Test cricket with a total of 11, second to Don Bardmna who has scored 12 double centuries.
- He has 63 centuries in all formats combined, including 38 centuries in Test cricket which is the fourth-highest number of centuries.
- In 2006 against South Africa with Jayawardene, he wrote his name in record books to score the highest partnership for any wicket 624 runs. They are the only pair to score a 600+ partnership for any wicket in first-class history.
- The wicketkeeper also has the record for most stumpings (3) in an innings in ODI.
- He is the second-highest run scorer in ODI cricket with 14,234 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar.
- Sangakkara has scored 1385 and 1491 fours in ODI and Test cricket, putting him in third and fifth place respectively.
- In 2014 Sangakkara scored a total of 2868 runs in all formats combined becoming the player to score the most runs in a calendar year.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 27, 2022 11:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).