Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (born 27 October 1977 at Matale) is a left hand batsman, batting in the third position of the Sri Lankan attack. He is a specialist wicketkeeper also. He shall also be playing English county cricket for Warwickshire CCC in 2007.

He is now considered, by the LG ICC Test ratings, the best current wicket-keeping batsman with the recent improvement in his wicket-keeping skills. He loves to hit the ball square of the wicket on the off-side. His skill is recognised worldwide to the extent that he was chosen for the ICC World XI One Day team for competing against Australia in the Johnnie Walker Series in October 2005. Despite the World XI losing all of the one-day games, Sangakkara succeeded in leaving the series with some credit, averaging a decent 46.

In July 2006, he scored his highest Test score of 287 against South Africa and shared in a record-breaking partnership of 624 with Mahela Jayawardene. This set a new world record in both Test and first class cricket, and was the first case of a partnership of 600 or more in a first-class or Test match innings. Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama, the Sri Lankan pair, who put on 576 against India at Colombo in August 1997, held the previous record. Sangakkara has under his belt three other double centuries in Test cricket, and just one of his nine completed centuries has been less than 138, reflecting that Sangakkara has good concentration levels even after he reaches a century.

Sangakkara also has five ODI centuries, including one against Australia in Colombo, 2004, in his hundredth match.
Sangakkara is also billed as a future captain of Sri Lanka. On Sri Lanka’s tour to England in May 2006, he was named the vice-captain of the side.

He is also studying to become a lawyer. Sangakkara hails from the Trinity College, Kandy, the only secondary school in the world to boast of owning an international Test cricket ground, the Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium. Sangakkara is also known for his quirky soundbites and propensity to engage in verbal sledging with opponents.