Kumar Sangakkara: 12,400 Test Runs and Sri Lanka's Greatest Batsman
Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara was born on 27 October 1977 in Matale, Sri Lanka. He played 134 Tests (2000–2015), scoring 12,400 runs at 57.40 — the second-highest average of any batsman with 10,000+ Test runs after Don Bradman (99.94). He scored 38 Test centuries — the second-most among current-era batsmen after Sachin Tendulkar (51). He played as a wicketkeeper until 2009 (315 Test dismissals) and then as a specialist batsman. In ODIs he scored 14,234 runs at 41.98 with 25 centuries. In the 2015 World Cup, he scored four consecutive ODI centuries — the first batsman in history to do so. He was part of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup winning side as a replacement player and the 2014 T20 World Cup winning side. He was ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2011 and 2012.
Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara was born on 27 October 1977 in Matale, Sri Lanka. He made his Test debut against South Africa in July 2000 and played 134 Tests from 2000 to 2015, scoring 12,400 runs at 57.40. He scored 38 Test centuries. He kept wicket until 2009 (315 Test dismissals) and then played as a specialist batsman. In ODIs he scored 14,234 runs at 41.98 with 25 centuries. He retired from all cricket after the 2015 English county season with Surrey.
57.40: The Third-Highest Test Average in History
Sangakkara's Test average of 57.40 is the third-highest in Test history among batsmen with 10,000+ runs — after Don Bradman (99.94) and Adam Voges (61.87, who played only 20 Tests). Among batsmen with 50+ Tests, Sangakkara's 57.40 is the second-highest average in history after Bradman. Steve Smith (58.44, 100+ Tests) currently leads active batsmen and has a marginally higher career average than Sangakkara, but Sangakkara's 134-Test record across a 15-year career in all conditions — including subcontinent, SENA, and the Caribbean — provides a more comprehensive sample. His 624-run partnership with Mahela Jayawardene against South Africa at Colombo in 2006 remains the second-highest partnership in Test history.
2015 World Cup: Four Consecutive ODI Centuries
In the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Sangakkara scored four consecutive ODI centuries — the first batsman in history to score a century in four consecutive ODI innings. He scored 105 against Bangladesh in Hobart, 117* against England in Wellington, 124 against Australia in Sydney, and 104 against Scotland in Hobart. Sri Lanka reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated by South Africa. Sangakkara was 37 years old during the 2015 World Cup; his four consecutive centuries were the peak of a career that had lasted 15 years at the international level. No other batsman has scored four consecutive ODI centuries in World Cup history.
Frequently asked questions
How did Sangakkara and Jayawardene's partnership transform Sri Lanka from an inconsistent Test team into one of the world's best between 2005 and 2015?
Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's simultaneous peak (roughly 2005–2015) coincided with the most successful decade in Sri Lankan Test history. Together they formed the most productive batting partnership in the team's history: their aggregate in Tests played together covers 12,000+ runs combined during the period, and their record second-wicket partnership of 624 vs South Africa in 2006 established them as the team's structural foundation. Their combined effect on Sri Lanka's batting was complementary: Jayawardene was technically classical — a back-foot player with exceptional hand-eye coordination and a speciality against off-spin that he hit down the ground — while Sangakkara was left-handed with an unusually high backlift that generated power through the on side and a technically correct defence against inswing (which threatens left-handers most). Together they covered both orientations (left and right) and both scoring zones (leg-side for Sangakkara, off-side for Jayawardene). Their personal friendship and batting communication at the crease — built over 15 years of playing together from school cricket in Kandy — allowed them to rotate strike and support each other through difficult periods in a way that purely professional batting partners rarely achieve. The transformation of Sri Lanka from a team that relied on explosive batting (1996 era: Aravinda de Silva, Jayasuriya's opening aggression) to a team built on batting depth and average (2005–15: Sangakkara at 57.40, Jayawardene at 49.84) reflects a structural change in how the team was managed, but the personnel enabling it were Sangakkara and Jayawardene at their peak.