World of Cricket Contest Series | Contest - 4 :: My Favourite Wicketkeeper Batsman - Legendary Sanga
When someone asks who is your favourite Cricketer, or favourite batsman, or role model in Cricket, only one name just pops into my mind.
One of the greatest batsmen in the world. One of the best Wicketkeeper-batsman in the world. An inspiration to many. An ambassador of Sri Lankan Cricket. Most loved and respected gentleman of our generation. Well, he is Kumar Sangakkara. Well known Sanga.
My whole childhood went with watching his legacy. Once, I was like. Wow! Look at that cover drive. I want to see it again and again. Then I was like, mmm he is a great wicketkeeper, he is very quick behind the stumps. When he is the captain of the team, yeah, I know that he can lift the trophy.
When the time goes, I looked at him from a different view. Sanga, you have a great personality. How the hell you are speaking English so fluently. Yeah, he is a complete package in and out of the field. He is a role model in my life.
Okay, let’s see about him.
Personal Information
He was born on 27 October 1977 in Matale, Sri Lanka. He went to Trinity College for his Education. His family has a strong educational background. Did you know he was in the chorister and played violin, he was the senior head prefect of school? And then entered the Law Faculty of the University of Colombo, but he couldn’t finish it with the busy schedule for cricket, but later he completed master's in law. He played badminton, tennis, and swimming.
He married Yehali in May 2003, now has twin children, a son, and a daughter.
His lovely family
In the school cricket team, he played for Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19, and first XI squads. Then with those performances, he could select for the Sri Lanka A team in 1998–99, for the tour of South Africa.
Then with a magical inning of 156 against Zimbabwe A team he made his way to the Sri Lankan national cricket team later that year.
International Carrier
Competition | Test | ODI | T20I |
---|---|---|---|
Debut | 20 July 2000 v South Africa | 5 July 2000 v Pakistan | 15 June 2006 v England |
Matches | 134 | 404 | 56 |
Runs | 12,400 | 14,234 | 1,382 |
Batting average | 57.40 | 41.98 | 31.40 |
100s/50s | 38/52 | 25/93 | 0/8 |
Top score | 319 | 169 | 78 |
Catches/stumpings | 182/20 | 402/99 | 25 /20 |
Retirement | 20 August 2015 v India | 18 March 2015 v South Africa | 6 April 2014 v India |
Why is he so special?
Elegant stroke player
He has a wide range of classy shots around the ground. Either fast or spin bowling, he is good at it. He is so analytical of the game. Knows exactly about the opposition and the situation. Well, it’s the happiness to watch Sanga batting.
His cover drive is his icon.
And also he has created so many records and achievements in his carrier as a batsman, especially in Test Cricket. At retirement, he was the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket and sixth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket
Great Sportsmanship
After losing the 2011 ICC world cup final, look at his smile towards his opposition. This picture is widely praised by the entire cricketing world. And also, it's rare to see him get angry with the opposition players or umpire decisions.
Excellent Wicketkeeper
Fourth in the list of most dismissals as wicketkeeper across all formats (678) and most in ODI s. (482)
Personality
The reason for his shining. He is well educated and so fluent in English. In 2011, he delivered the MSC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lords, London. He is the youngest cricketer and the only player not retired from sports to have this prestigious moment which was widely praised by the cricketing community.
You should hear this. Especially, Sri Lankans don't miss it. One of the most important speeches in cricket history. There are 7 parts, here is the first one.
With all this, he was appointed as the first non-British MCC President since the club was founded in 1787. In 2015 he was appointed Sangakkara as the Ambassador of the Anti-narcotics program In Sri Lanka. And currently, he is working as a commentator too.
Acievements and records
Sixth highest aggregate of runs (12,400) in tests in 134 matches at an average of 57.40
Second most double centuries in a career – Sangakkara has 11 double centuries in Tests, second only to 12 by Don Bradman.
First player to score 150+ scores in four consecutive Test matches
Fastest player to 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000, 12000 Test runs.
Highest partnership for any wicket – 624 for the third wicket by Kumara Sangakkara (287) & Mahela Jayawardene (374) against South Africa in 2006
First and only batsman to score four consecutive hundreds in ODI.
Most runs in cricket in all formats of the game in a calendar year( 2868 runs in the year 2014)
Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2012 and 2015 editions of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
The sadness is, legends getting older and we are still waiting for that era of Sri Lankan Cricket.
“I am today, and always, proudly Sri Lankan.” – Kumar Sangakkara MCC ‘Spirit of Cricket’ Lecture -2011
Share your memories about him in the comment section.
Thank you for reading and special thanks to @steemcurator01 and @steemcurator02 for the continuous support!
Thank You!
Best Regards!
One of the main reasons for becoming crazy cricket fans since our childhood. 😇 we got addicted to SL cricket because of their classy cricket😍 respect and thank you for making our childhood awesome. 😍😍
Thank you Damith for sharing.
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