Name : Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara.
Date of Birth : 27 October, 1977.
Place of Birth : Matale, Sri Lanka.
Batting Style : Left Handed Batsman.
Bowling Style : Right Arm off Spin.
Role : Batsman and Wicket Keeper.
TEST Debut : against South Africa in 2000.
ODI Debut : against Pakistan in 2000.
Playing Teams : Nondescripts (1997-present), Warwickshire (2007), Sri Lanka, Kings Eleven Punjab (IPL 2008).
ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL::
Matches : 222. (As on July 2008)
Runs : 6,716
Best : 138* vs. India at Jaipur, India in 2005.
Average : 35.96
100’s : 10
50’s : 42
Catches : 198
Stumpings : 58
TEST CAREER::
Matches : 73 (As on July 2008)
Runs : 6,127
Best : 287
Average : 55.19
100’s : 16
50’s : 25
Catches : 152
Stumpings : 20
Sangakkara’s Personal Information::
Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (born 27 October 1977 at Matale) is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper. Sangakkara got his education at Trinity College, Kandy. Sangakkara was born to Kumari and Chokshanada Sangakkara at Matale in 1977. Sangakkara is a product of the Trinity College, Kandy and was the ryde medalist of his year. He showed talents in both cricket and tennis at school, and it was the Principal, Mr. Leonard De Alwis who advised his mother to encourage him to pursue cricket.
He is the youngest of four siblings and has a brother and two sisters one of whom is a sportswoman herself - a keen Tennis player. Sangakkara is married to his longtime sweetheart, Yehali and is currently a law undergraduate, going in the footsteps of his father, who is also a leading lawyer in Kandy. He is multilingual, been able to speak in Sinhalese, Tamil and English he is from Sri Lanka and is often seen as the unofficial spokesman of the cricket team. Sangakkara is ambidextrous.
Sangakkara’s International Performance::
Sangakkara started his career as a batsman but subsequently became a wicket-keeper also. His keeping has developed to such an extent that he was once considered, by the LG ICC Test ratings, the best wicket-keeping batsman in the world. In 2006 however he gave the gloves to Prasanna Jayawardene in Tests and has since played as a specialist batsman. He remains Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper in One-Day International cricket.
Sangakkara likes to hit the ball square of the wicket on the off-side and once making a century he more often than not passes 150 in Test cricket. On the 6 December 2007 he was named as the new Number 1 batsman in the LG ICC Test player rankings with a rating of 938, the highest rating ever achieved by a Sri Lankan player, and became the first batsman ever to score in excess of 150 in four consecutive tests. His skill was recognized worldwide when he earned selection for the ICC World XI One Day team that competed against Australia in the Johnnie Walker Series in October 2005. Despite the World XI losing all of the one-day games considerably, Sangakkara succeeded in leaving the series some credit, averaging 46. He plays his domestic cricket for Nondescripts in Sri Lanka and played English county cricket with Warwickshire during 2007. He is billed as a future captain of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's tour to England in May 2006, he was named the vice-captain of the side.
Sangakkara’s career highlights………………………
In July 2006, he scored his highest Test score of 287 against South Africa and shared a record-breaking partnership of 624 with Mahela Jayawardene. This is a 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. The previous Test record was also held by a Sri Lankan pair - Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama, who put on 576 against India at Colombo in August 1997. Sangakkara has scored four other double centuries in Test cricket, and only one of his nine completed centuries has been less than 138, indicating that Sangakkara has good concentration levels even after he reaches a century.
In 2007 he joined the elite club of Test Batsmen who have scored five or more double centuries. Smashing unbeaten consecutive scores of 200 and 222 in the second and third Tests against Bangladesh, Sangakkara became the sixth man in history to score back-to-back double centuries, putting him in the elite company of Sir Don Bradman and Wally Hammond.
On 4 December 2007, Sangakarra became the first batsman to ever to make single innings scores in excess of a 150 or more in four consecutive test matches.
Sangakkara also has seven ODI centuries to his name, including one against Australia in Colombo in 2004. Coincidentally, it was also his 100th One-Day International match.
In One Day International’s………
Sangakkara’s centuries …………
.3 against India (Best: 138* at Jaipur, India in 2005).
.1 against Kenya (Best: 103* at Sharjah, UAE in 2003).
.1 against UAE (Best: 132 at Karachi, Pakistan in 2008).
.2 against Pakistan (Best: 121 at Karachi, Pakistan in 2008).
.1 against Australia (Best: 101 at Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2004).
.2 against Bangladesh (Best: 112 at Karachi, Pakistan in 2008).
Awards…………
Sangakkara has 13 “Man of the Match” awards in ODI’s, they were……….
.1 each with Kenya, Africa XI, England, Bangladesh, UAE and Australia.
. 2 against India.
. 3 against South Africa and 2 against Pakistan.
And Sangakkara has 3 “Man of the Series” awards in ODI’s……..
. In Cherry Blossom series 2002/03 played between 4 nations (Sri Lanka, UAE, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan) in UAE.
.Against South Africa in 2004.
.Against Bangladesh in 2005/06.
In Test Matches…………
Sangakkara’s centuries …………
. 1 against Australia (Best: 192 at Hobart, Australia in 2007).
. 2 against South Africa (Best: 287at Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2006).
. 3 against Pakistan (Best: 230 at Lahore, Pakistan in 2002).
. 2 against New Zealand (Best: 156* at Wellington, New Zealand 2006).
. 2 against Zimbabwe (Best: 270 at Bulawayo, Zimbabwe 2004).
. 2 against Bangladesh (Best: 222* at Kandy, Sri Lanka in 2007).
. 2 against West Indies (Best: 222* at Kandy, Sri Lanka in 2007).
. 1 against England (Best: 152 at Kandy, Sri Lanka in 2008).
Awards in Test Matches………
8 “Man of the Match” awards………
. Zimbabwe [2], England [1], South Africa [1], Bangladesh [1], West Indies [1] and Pakistan. One “Man of the Match” he got when he played in Asian Test Championship.