Kumar Sangakkara      

As soon as he broke into the side at the age of 22, while a law student, it was apparent that Kumar Sangakkara was destined for more than just batting stardom. The left-handers that had preceded him, like Arjuna Ranatunga and Asanka Gurusinha, had been pugnacious battlers but Sangakkara was cut from more graceful cloth, easing into strokes with the elegance often associated with those that play with the 'other' hand. The cut and the pull came naturally to him and with growing confidence, he became a more assured front-foot player as well.

Ranatunga had already exploded the myth of the Sri Lankans being meek men who could be bullied, but Sangakkara has refined the belligerence, combining a suave exterior with cutting asides and sharp sledges from behind the stumps. Initially, his glovework wasn't for the purists, but such was his batting ability that there was no question of displacing him from the XI.

As a batsman, he has matured steadily, and the appetite for runs was best illustrated at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in 2006, when he and Mahela Jayawardene, captain and close friend, added 624 against a South African attack boasting Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini. Sangakkara contributed 287 and did his burgeoning reputation no harm a year later when he went to Hobart and scored a dazzling 192 in a narrowly lost cause. By then, he already had a half-century in a World Cup final to his name, and long before Jayawardene relinquished the captaincy, it was understood that Sangakkara would be the anointed one.

He has been far less relentless in the one-day arena, often throwing his wicket away when well set, but his leadership qualities have made him a sought-after signing in the Indian Premier League. With the captain's burden on his shoulders, he no longer keeps in Test matches, but the smart-alec remarks from behind the stumps are a common feature of every game that Sri Lanka plays in coloured clothes. If he keeps scoring at his present rate, every Sri Lankan batting record will be his by the time he stashes the kitbag away and takes up those weighty law tomes.
Dileep Premachandran

• May 20, 2000
  Mauling in Moratuwa
  • Scores a blistering unbeaten 156 for Sri Lanka A, against Zimbabwe A. Is later rewarded with a place in the national side in the upcoming triangular involving South Africa and Pakistan.
    
• July 6, 2000
  Start as you mean to go
  • His first Man-of-the-Match award, in his second ODI. Scores 85 against South Africa, ends his debut series with 199 runs at 66.33. Is selected for the Tests against South Africa.
    
• August 15-16, 2001
  First Test century
  • He has missed the mark twice, getting out in the nineties, but fights the nerves and the shortage of batsmen this time in Galle against India, and finishes the century in Muttiah Muralitharan's company.
    
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• March 6-7, 2002
  First double
  • Scores his first double century - four less than Pakistan's first-innings 234, in the Asian Test Championship final. The innings comes off 327 balls, and sets the championship up nicely for Sri Lanka.
    
• April 4, 2003
  Long time coming
  • Scores his first ODI century, in his 86th match - in a losing effort against Pakistan.
    
• May 16-17, 2004
  All the runs in the world
  • Misses out on a triple century by 30 runs after he and Marvan Atapattu have Zimbabwe bowlers submit completely in the Bulawayo Test. They add 438 for the second wicket.
    
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• August 11-12, 2004
  Double the double
  • Second double century in four months. This one sets up a Test win against South Africa in Colombo.
    
• July 2, 2005
  Best of the rest
  • Makes it to the ICC World XI ODIs side for the Super Series, but misses out on the Tests, the form of the game ha has done exceedingly well at. Later in the month, comes up with a classy second-innings century against West Indies on a difficult Kandy track.
    
• July 27-29, 2006
  Monstrosity against South Africa
  • In partnership with Mahela Jayawrdene, grinds South Africa down to their knees. Scores 287, his fourth double-century. Their 624-run partnership is the highest in the history of first-class cricket.
    
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• November 3, 2006
  In elite company
  • Makes it this time to the World Test Team of the year announced by the ICC.
    
• February 2, 2007
  Signs for Warwickshire.
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• July, 2007
  Power of two
  • Becomes the fifth man in Test history to have scored back-to-back double centuries, with 200 not out and 222 not out against Bangladesh in home Tests. His six double centuries are easily the highest for a wicket-keeper.
    
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• November 19-20, 2007
  Miracle-in-progress
  • With Sri Lanka chasing 507 against Australia in Hobart, sets about to do the impossible. There is unadulterated brilliance to his 192, but Australia manage to keep them 96 short. Replaces Ricky Ponting at the top of ICC's rankings for Test batsmen.
    
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• 230 v Pakistan, Lahore, 2001-02
  • It's the final of the Asian Test Championship, and Sangakkara has just about started to get into his own. After lacklustre Pakistan batting, Sangakkara bats for three hours longer than the Pakistan innings, and scores only four less than their total. After Marvan Atapattu's golden duck, Sangakkara's eight-hour 230, taking only 327 balls and including 33 fours and three sixes, features partnerships of 203 with Jayasuriya and 173 with Jayawardene. This is his first double century - first of many to come.
    
• 232 and 64 v South Africa, Colombo, 2004
  • Sri Lanka have never won a series against South Africa, but are helped when Jacques Kallis drops Sangakkara on 57 in the second Test. He goes on to score a double century full of trademark flowing drives and also hooks and cuts on anything short. In all, he bats for 529 minutes, faces 357 balls and hits 31 fours and a six before edging to slip as South Africa belatedly fight back on day two. But Sangakkara seals the series win with 64 in the second innings to set a mammoth target of 493.
    
• 157* v West Indies, Kandy, 2005
  • Back to his school ground, Sangakkara sees Sri Lanka get out for their lowest total against West Indies. After the bowlers stage a comeback to secure a two-run first-innings lead, Sri Lanka again lose two early wickets. That's when Sangakkara takes charge and single-handedly sets up a winning total. His 157 contains 24 boundaries and involves partnerships with lower order too. Muttiah Muralitharan later obliges by running through the West Indies batting.
    
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• 287 v South Africa, Colombo, 2006
  • This is just monstrous, unforgiving, and efficient. Responding to South Africa's 169 and two early wickets, he finds a perfect partner in Jayawardene. It takes some separating as the two put on 624, sweeping all the first-class partnership records aside. Sangakkara makes the most of a dropped chance as he moves from the consolidating to the elegant to the clinical. For two days the bowlers struggle to find anything but the middle of the bat, but he falls just short of the elusive triple century.
    
• 156* v New Zealand, Wellington, 2006-07
  • Sri Lanka are nudged in the wrong places in the first Test in Christchurch, Sangakkara not the least, whose 100th run involves a controversial run-out. Turns out, he is the most determined this time around, counterattacking spectacularly as other batsmen find the going tough on a green wicket in Wellington. The 156 come off 192 deliveries, with 21 boundaries and a six, and constitute 58.2 per cent of the team total. He reaches his fifty in 54 balls, and the hundred in 113. Lasith Malinga with the ball, and Chamara Silva with the bat in the second innings, respond well to set up a target of 504, which is when Murali comes in to play with another five-for.
    
• 192 v Australia, Hobart, 2007-08
  • That Sri Lanka even harbour thoughts of a miraculous 507-run chase in Hobart is due to Sangakkara, who plays one of the best innings by a visiting batsman in Australia. Sri Lanka have been outclassed in the first Test and in this, the second, they are just waiting for the referee to count them out when Sangakkara gets into his act. He treats all the Australian bowlers, bar Brett Lee, with scant respect, scoring at will. He adds 145 with Marvan Atapattu and 107 with Sanath Jayasuriya, but Brett Lee robs him of partners both times. Running out of batsmen, Sangakkara turns from the brilliant to the audacious, as if playing in the last 10 overs of a one-day game. Rudi Koertzen ends the dream when he gives Sangakkara out caught off the shoulder; such was Sangakkara's brilliance Koertzen publicly apologises later.
    
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