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Why Sangakkara is among the best of his era

Last updated on: August 24, 2015 19:46 IST

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara retired from international cricket on Monday, August 24.

One of the leading cricketers in world cricket for the last 15 years, he played 134 Tests, during which he scored 12,400 runs, took 182 catches (131 as a wicketkeeper) and effected 20 stumpings.

Rajneesh Gupta celebrates his illustrious career with a statistical outlook.

Kumar Sangakkara

IMAGE: Kumar Sangakkara acknowledges the applause of the crowd as he walks off the field after being dismissed on Day 3 of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Galle. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Sri Lankan batting legend Kumar Sangakkara retired from international cricket after the second Test against India, in Colombo, on Monday.

The 37-year-old left-hander is the island nation's most successful batsman, having finished with an impressive tally of 12,400 runs in 134 Tests and an average of 57.40.

He also left his mark in limited-overs' cricket, scoring over 14,000 runs in 404 One-Day Internationals before calling it quits after the 2015 World Cup.

In the Twenty20 format, he featured in 56 matches for his country, scoring 1,382 runs, at a strike rate of 119.

A look at the left-hander's record in international cricket:

 

Mts Runs Hs Avg SR

100s

50s

Tests

134 12400 319 57.40 54.19

38

52

One-Day Internationals

404 14234 169 41.98 78.86

25

93

T20 Internationals

56 1382 78 31.40 119.55

0

8

Kumar Sangakkara

IMAGE: Sangakkara hits a boundary through the off-side. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Sangakkara enjoyed a good record against all nations, his lowest average being 40 against England.

Bangladesh suffered the most from his willow as he scored 1,816 runs, at an average of 95, with a highest of 319.

He also relished playing against Pakistan, hitting 10 centuries in 23 matches for a tally of 2,911 runs, while against India he scored 1,352 runs, at an average of 52.

He is one of the rare sub-continent batsmen who excelled both at home and away, averaging 61 and 54 respectively.

Sangakkara's record against each country:

 

Mts Inns NO Runs Hs Avg SR 100 50 0

v Australia

11 21 1 878 192 43.90 48.53 1 7 1

v Bangladesh

15 21 2 1816 319 95.57 59.69 7 7 1

v England

22 40 1 1568 152 40.20 47.32 3 9 3

v India

17 28 2 1352 219 52.00 51.34 5 2 0

v New Zealand

12 21 3 887 203 49.27 60.05 4 2 1

v Pakistan

23 45 6 2911 230 74.64 54.60 10 12 2

v South Africa

17 32 0 1534 287 47.93 56.52 3 7 2

v West Indies

12 19 2 918 157* 54.00 50.49 3 5 1

v Zimbabwe

5 6 0 536 270 89.33 71.94 2 1 0

Home

75 124 11 6830 287 60.44 55.56 22 25 8

Away

59 109 6 5570 319 54.07 52.60 16 27 3

OVERALL

134 233 17 12400 319 57.40 54.19 38 52 11

IMAGE: Sangakkara applauded by New Zealand players as he leaves the field at the end of play after surpassing 12,000 Test runs in Wellington, January 4, 2015. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Sangakkara is rightly rated among the best batsmen of the last two decades, alongside greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid among others.

He is fifth in the run-scoring charts in Test cricket with a huge tally of 12,400 runs, which includes 38 centuries and 52 fifties in 134 Tests.

Leading run-scorers in Test cricket

 

Mts Inns NO Runs Hs Avg 100 50 0

SR Tendulkar (Ind)

200 329 33 15921 248* 53.78 51 68 14

RT Ponting (Aus)

168 287 29 13378 257 51.85 41 62 17

JH Kallis (SA)

166 280 40 13289 224 55.37 45 58 16

R Dravid (Ind)

164 286 32 13288 270 52.31 36 63 8

KC Sangakkara (SL)

134 233 17 12400 319 57.40 38 52 11

BC Lara (WI)

131 232 6 11953 400* 52.88 34 48 17

S Chanderpaul (WI)

164 280 49 11867 203* 51.37 30 66 15

DPMD Jayawardene (SL)

149 252 15 11814 374 49.84 34 50 15

AR Border (Aus)

156 265 44 11174 205 50.56 27 63 11

SR Waugh (Aus)

168 260 46 10927 200 51.06 32 50 22

SM Gavaskar (Ind)

125 214 16 10122 236* 51.12 34 45 12

Sangakkara took a liking to India's bowlers, scoring his maiden Test century, an unbeaten 105, in the first innings of his first Test against India in 2001 at Galle.

In his previous series against India in 2010, he was in supreme touch, scoring a hundred and a double in successive matches.

However, he failed in his last outing against the Indians, dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin in his all four innings. He failed to live up to expectations, managing just 95 runs in the four innings.

Sangakkara against India in Tests:

Venue Season Inns1 Inns2
Galle 2001 105* DNB
Kandy 2001 31 13
Colombo SSC 2001 47 -
Chennai 2005-06 30 -
Delhi 2005-06 3 33
Ahmedabad 2005-06 41 17
Colombo SSC 2008 12 -
Galle 2008 68 1
Colombo PSS 2008 144 4
Ahmedabad 2009-10 31 -
Kanpur 2009-10 44 11
Mumbai BS 2009-10 18 137
Galle 2010 103 DNB
Colombo SSC 2010 219 42*
Colombo PSS 2010 75 28
Galle 2015 5 40
Colombo PSS 2015 32 18

Figures updated till the 2nd Test in Colombo.

Rajneeesh Gupta