Sangakkara: The 'Iron Man' of Sri Lankan Cricket

He never struggled too hard for runs or suffered too many lean patches in his 15-year career. Going by his exploits, calling him by the moniker 'KS-47', the run-machine, would not be an overstatement.

We all have our favourites, especially those of us who fall in love with cricket watching it from beyond the boundary, and judge cricketers by their on-field statistics. But if numbers are any yardstick, few international cricketers can flaunt a power-packed career that’s as complete as that of Kumar Chokshananda Sangakkara, aka Kumar Sangakkara, or ‘Sanga’ as his teammates fondly call him.

For a cricketer, Sanga is quite well educated, too. True, it’s not about his academic qualifications here; consider that an icing on the cake if you like. Sangakkara made his international test debut at Galle cricket ground on July20, 2000, against South Africa. Many thought his debut was unimpressive — just as many saw his farewell innings on Monday unbecoming of a hero like him. In 2000, he scored 23 runs before going down leg before wicket to a Nicky Boje turner.

At the time Sangakkara made his test debut, this writer use to play for his school cricket team in the under-13 category, and had a lot in common with the suave Sri Lankan star — a left-handed wicket-keeper batsman who came in to bat at the crucial number-three position.

But that was debut, and however tame that might have been, what made Sangakkara the star he ended up being was the fact that he seized almost every opportunity thereon and left no stone unturned to ensure he was right up there with his brilliance. A consistent player, Sangakkara never struggled too hard for runs or suffered too many lean patches in his 15-year career. Going by his exploits, calling him by the moniker ‘KS-47’, the run-machine, would not be an overstatement.

The Galle connection

For Sangakkara, the Galle Cricket Ground (GCC) will always be very special. This is the ground from where he set foot in international cricket — both test matches and one-day international ties — and also bid adieu to the Gentleman’s game after scoring 50 runs in both innings of his swan-song test, albeit for a losing cause.

He 'solved' cricket
 

According to an article written by Andy Bull for The Guardian, “the year 2014 was a true testament... with he (Sangakkara) going all guns blazing for 2,868 runs in international cricket, at an average of 53. No one has ever scored more in a calendar year. This year, he became the first man in history to score centuries in four consecutive ODI innings, and during the World Cup, too. At the age of 37, Sangakkara sometimes seems to have solved cricket, as a computer solves checkers or a bright child a Rubik’s Cube.”

The report points out that there was a time when they said Sangakkara’s problem was that he was a better batsman at home — that, of course, he was — but struggled when away. Not quite, if you go by his final statistics. He finished with (all formats) an average of 49 in Australia, 49 in New Zealand, 44 in England, and 43 in India. He is the only batsman who holds a place in the top 10 in averages, most runs and most centuries in test cricket. That means he is easily one of the greatest batsmen of all times by any measure.

If he had had another year like 2014 before he chose to hang up his boots, says Andy Bull, he might have been sitting next to Sachin Tendulkar as test cricket’s second-best run-scorer, and overtaken Sir Donald Bradman as the man who scored the most number of double-hundreds in test cricket. But he is not interested. He says he would have quit sooner if his great mate Mahela Jayawardene hadn’t beaten him to it. He thought the team would suffer if both left at the same time.

Career stats

The prolific southpaw became an integral part of the Sri Lankan side for his consistent performance that won the team a T20 World Cup, and helped it make it to the finals of the 50-over World Cups in 2007 and 2011, and T20 World Cups in 2009 and 2012. His records etched the picture perfect of consistency, both with the bat and behind the wickets.

Here is a snapshot:

• With 14,234 runs in 404 ODIs, he is next only to master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar in terms of runs scored.

• With 93 half-centuries, he is second only to Tendulkar in ODI fifties.

•  He is in the elite company of Tendulkar, Ponting and his former teammate Sanath Jayasuriya, the men who crossed the 13,000-run mark in ODIs.

• He is the fifth-highest run-scorer in test cricket, amassing 12,400 runs in 134 tests with a phenomenal average of 57.40, 38 centuries and 52 fifties.

• He has 11 double-hundreds to his name, only one short of Sir Don Bradman’s 12.

• He holds the record for the highest partnership for any wicket in tests — 624 runs in his third-wicket stand with Mahela Jayawardene in 2006, against South Africa.

•  With 501 dismissals behind the wicket, he surpassed Adam Gilchrist’s 472 ODI dismissals by a wide margin.

Also, over a career of 15 years, Sangakkara won a number of awards, such as:

• ICC ODI Player of the Year 2011

• Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2012

• Wisden Leading Cricketer 2012 and 2015

• LG People's Choice Award 2011 and 2012

• ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2012

• ICC Cricketer of the Year 2012

• ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year 2013

True gentleman of the game

Sangakkara, surely, has been more than a cricketer. He delivered his famous MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s in 2011. He said: “My loyalty will be to the ordinary Sri Lankan fan… they are my foundation, they are my family. I will play my cricket for them. Their spirit is the true spirit of cricket. With me, are all my people — I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and Burgher. I am a Buddhist, a Hindu, a follower of Islam and Christianity. I am today, and always, proudly, a Sri Lankan.”

A brand, a brand endorser

Sangakkara is a household name among cricket fans not just in Sri Lanka but also in India. Apart from being a brand ambassador for his country’s Dangerous Drugs Control Board, he espouses several social causes and endorses brands like Viva, a product of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, and TVS Lanka. Business Standard tried to reach Sangakkara’s exact brand value and all the products he endorses, but an email sent to Austin Management Limited, a Colombo-based sports management company, has not elicited a response so far. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena urge him to become country's envoy to United Kingdom on which Sangakkara, replied, " I respect the President's request. I need to talk more with him about it. i'm very inexperienced in such things. You need to have special knowledge for that post as well. I have to think about it and work out a reply."