Overview
It goes without saying that Kumar Sangakkara is arguably one of the finest cricketers that modern day cricket has seen . The finesse in his batting cannot be matched by anyone . Coupled with a great cricketing brain , he is a sort of cricketer that any team would love to have in its ranks.
Early Life
Having been able to don the national colours in badminton and tennis at an early age , Kumar's hunger for success was quite prominent . Cricket was no exception for him . A handy knock of 156 not out against a touring Zimbabwe A side helped him to secure a place in the Sri Lankan team . Since then there's been no looking back . He has made numerous records his own over the past two decades.
His Cricketing Journey
Kumar Sangakkara has been described by many as to be one of the most polished batsmen in cricket . Technically sound and well gifted , he has numerous batting records across all formats of the game . He holds the record of being the top run scorer for Sri Lanka in ODIs and second overall , only behind Sachin Tendulkar . A more-than-able wicketkeeper , he holds the record for most dismissals in ODIs . In Tests , he is currently the fifth highest run getter of all time.
If all these weren't enough to place his name alongside the all time greats , then surely his feats of being the fastest to 8000,9000,10000,11000,12000 Test runs are . He has been a regular member of the ICC Test and ODI Team of the Year , featuring six and three times respectively over the past decade . He has also pocketed the ICC Cricketer of the Year (2012) , ICC Test Cricketer of the Year (2012) & ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year (2011,2013) . He is one of the two cricketers to have won the Wisden Leading Cricketer of the Year (2011,2015).
High Point
The high point of Sanga's career was winning the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup in Bangladesh . The disappointment of final losses in 4 consecutive major ICC Tournaments notwithstanding , Kumar Sangakkara led the island nation to its first major title since the 1996 World Cup win . His 'Man of the Match' performance of 52 unbeaten runs was an icing on the cake.
MCC Spirit of Cricket Speech , 2011 :In 2011 , Sangakkara became the only active cricketer and youngest person till date to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's . The speech was widely praised in the cricketing community . His speech focused mainly on the problems stalling the growth of Sri Lankan cricket . It has also been widely regarded as "the most important speech in cricket history" .
There can be little doubt that he is one of the most exceptional cricketers that the modern day game has seen . His retirement puts an end to arguably the finest generation of batsmen that cricket will ever see , notable among those being Sachin Tendulkar , Ricky Ponting , Mahela Jayawardene , Rahul Dravid and Brian Lara . His name will surely be mentioned among the echelons of cricketing greats for years to come.
