Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara is a name that does not need any introduction. One of the best cricketers Sri Lanka has ever given to the world cricket. He is vividly known as Sanga in the cricketing world. Sangakkara was the captain and wicketkeeper-batsman of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 2000 to 2015. He was the most crucial run scorer for Sri Lanka during his time. He has set his record not only in batting but also fielding. This article will take you through the books of Sanga and his marked pages.
1. Most Runs In A Calendar Year
Sangakkara has the record of scoring the highest number of runs in a calendar year; just before his retirement in 2015, he achieved this biggie in the year 2014 by breaking the record of Ricky Ponting and scoring 2868 runs in just 57 innings and by facing 4254 balls with the highest score being 314. During this period of one year, Sanga has scored eight tons and eighteen half–centuries. He has been the maximum run scorer in a year for six different years, the first time being in 2004, followed by 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2014.
2. Most Boundaries
Scoring boundaries is always considered an outstanding achievement in cricket, and Sanga has the record of having the maximum number of boundaries after the Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar. By his retirement in 2015, he scored 3015 boundaries in 666 innings in an unbelievable way. His strike and timing to calculate the ball have played a crucial and impeccable role in achieving the highest number of fours and leading the company to victory. He is only the second Player to score three thousand plus boundaries in international cricket.
3. Most Hundreds In A Career
The Sri Lankan gem scored 64 centuries in his career, in fourth position in the most centuries list. He scored 25 One Day International (ODI), 38 test centuries, and 0 Twenty20 (T20) centuries. In his retirement year in which, he scored five centuries. His first-ever century was against India on 14th August 2001, his first test century; in that match, he scored 105 and stayed not out. His first ODI century was against Pakistani Shaheens with the exact 100. His last century was on 11th March 2015 against Scotland in the ODI format; he scored 124 in that match.
4. Most Dismissals
Sanga is considered one of the best batters in Sri Lanka, but he was a very underrated bowler and fielder. Through his bowling and fielding for fifteen long years, he dismissed 678 batters through bowling, stumping, and fielding in 499 innings; he is in fourth place in the dismissal rankings. His first-ever dismissal was Yousuf Youhana on 5th July 2000, in his ODI debut match in the bowling of Nuwan Zoysa. His last dismissal was on his previous ODI match against Scotland on 11th March 2015 by getting two catches.
5. Most Player Of The Match Awards
The Player of the Match award was given to the exceptional performance of a player in a particular match, either in batting or bowling. Kumar Sangakkara has received 50 Player of the Match awards, and he is the fifth person to have this high number of Player of the Match awards and only the second Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya who have 58 Player of the Match awards. His first Player of the Match award was in 2002, in a test match against Pakistan. In that match, he scored 270 runs and made his team win.
6. Most Matches In A Career
Sangakkara has always been the backbone of the Sri Lankan cricket team; the team only wanted to rest him for any of their essential matches once he was out of the cricket scene. He was part of the team till 2015, from 2000, when he played 594 international games on behalf of Sri Lanka. He is the third Player with the most matches and the second Sri Lankan after Jayawardhane. His first match was on 5th July 2000, an ODI against Pakistan, and his last was on 18th March 2015 against South Africa.
7. Most Runs In A Career
Sangakkara is a very successful batsman; he has scored 28,016 runs in his career across formats and is the second batsman with the most international runs after Sachin Tendulkar. He has a great tackle in running between the wickets and has an understanding with the batsman on the other end. He has the most runs in the ODI format, followed by test and T20. He has 14,234 runs in ODI, 12,400 in test matches, and 1382 in T20. He achieved this in fifteen years of his senior cricketing life.
8. Maximum Number Of Stumpings
The legendary man standing behind the stumps created his style of magic in wicketkeeping. In his whole career, he stumped 139 wickets; he is in the 2nd place with a 1.358 dismissal rate in most stumpings, following M.S. Dhoni. In the top 10 fastest-stumping world records in history, Sanga has been in the list in two places on 6th by stumping Australian cricketer Maher and 8th by stumping West Indies legend Brian Lara. He is the best wicketkeeper that Sri Lanka has ever produced. He took significant wickets in crucial innings for his team.
9. Most Fifties In Career
Sangakkara, the consistent and terrific batter, holds a record in almost all the fields of cricketing books; having the most fifties in all the formats is just another typical record for him. Many legends in the area appreciate his techniques. Sanga has 153 half-centuries in his whole career, with a batting average of 66.56. His maximum fifties are in the ODI format; he has 93 ODI fifties, 52 test fifties, and 8 T20 half-centuries. He is in third position in most fifties list, following Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.
10. Most Catches In A Career
As a wicketkeeper-batsman, Sangakkara has caught and caught behind 539 catches in his fifteen international cricketing years. He took 383 catches in ODI, 131 in test, and 25 in T20I formats. He always took the chance to get a batter out of the crease. He is in the fifth position in the list of most catches taken in career record. He was a nightmare, especially to Indians, in the 2011 World Cup when he took the catch of Sachin Tendulkar at 18 for the last time he batted in ODI.
