A run-machine called Sangakkara

Quiz question: have a look at this sequence of numbers and identify it - 142, 105, 139, 55, 75, 319, 105.

For anyone who has followed international cricket over the last 12 months, that's a pretty easy one - that's the sequence of scores that Kumar Sangakkara has racked up in Tests against Bangladesh since March 2013. Add up those numbers, and the total reads 940 runs from seven innings, at an average of 134.28, with five hundreds and two fifties. As if that wasn't enough, he also went ahead and plundered 247 ODI runs at a run a ball in four innings against them during this period. Bring in the Twenty20 international runs as well, and it all adds up to a pretty impressive 1235 runs for him from 13 international innings against Bangladesh since March 2013 - an average of 95 runs per innings, and 103 runs per month. The next best aggregate during this period is Dinesh Chandimal's 504.

All those runs have added healthy amounts to Sangakkara's overall international aggregate. In Tests, he has scored 1816 runs from 15 Tests against Bangladesh, 670 more than the second highest. (The top three, incidentally, are all from Sri Lanka, and they are also the only ones to score 1000-plus against Bangladesh in Tests.) In all international cricket, Sangakkara's tally against Bangladesh is 2983 from 50 innings, 1229 more than the next highest.

It's obviously a flaw of the cricketing calendar that Bangladesh tend to play some teams more than others. Among the top sides, Sri Lanka is the one team Bangladesh have played more than any other: they've played each other 16 times in Tests, and 56 times in all international matches; Bangladesh v Australia, on the other hand, has happened only four times in Tests, and 25 times in all international matches. Sri Lankan players have benefited, and Sangakkara more than most, for he has consistently converted his starts and scored centuries against them, as reflected in his stats from the last 12 months.

Sangakkara has also scored well when he has played Zimbabwe, though that hasn't happened as often - he has 536 runs from five Tests, at an average of 89.33. Overall 21% of his Test runs have been scored against these two teams. Sangakkara has obviously scored heavily against other teams too, but this percentage is unusually high when compared to batsmen from other teams. Graeme Smith, for example, has scored less than 10% of his runs against those two teams. Six of the of the top 12 run-getters against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are from Sri Lanka, and most of them have scored a very high percentage of their total runs against them.

Top run-getters in Tests v B'desh and Zim since 2000

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s	Tot runs*	Percentage*
Kumar Sangakkara	20	2352	94.08	9/ 8	11,151	21.09
Sachin Tendulkar	13	1635	116.78	8/ 2	10,080	16.22
Mahela Jayawardene	18	1450	76.31	6/ 4	10,386	13.96
Rahul Dravid	15	1377	86.06	5/ 6	10,590	13.00
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	16	1020	60.00	4/ 2	8985	11.35
Tillakaratne Dilshan	13	1018	67.86	4/ 4	5283	19.27
Chris Gayle	14	933	49.10	3/ 3	6933	13.46
Younis Khan	10	929	77.41	3/ 3	7399	12.56
Graeme Smith	10	905	82.27	4/ 1	9257	9.78
Sanath Jayasuriya	10	878	79.81	3/ 3	4222	20.79
Thilan Samaraweera	13	854	71.16	2/ 7	5462	15.63
Marvan Atapattu	9	853	94.77	4/ 1	4055	21.03

* All runs scored since 2000 only

Unlike some of the other Sri Lankan batsmen, though, Sangakkara has gained respect and recognition from opposition bowlers across the world for his ability to play and score runs in different conditions. Splitting his career into three parts, it's clear that the last ten years have been phenomenally prolific - he has averaged 62 during this period, with plenty of runs at home against all opposition, and plenty of runs against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. He hasn't had as much success in South Africa and England, but his record in Australia compares favourably with the best: six 50-plus scores in ten innings, and an average of 60.33.

However, Sri Lanka have always struggled to get enough Test matches outside the subcontinent, which spoils the chances for a batsman like Sangakkara to enhance his stature as a truly great, all-weather batsman. Over a career that has already stretched more than 13 years, he has played six Tests in Bangladesh, but only five in Australia.

As mentioned earlier, Sangakkara has averaged 62 over the last ten years, which is incredible considering the period over which he has maintained those high standards. Excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe during this period, Sangakkara's average drops to a still-impressive 55.62, next only to Jacques Kallis and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

When talk of the greatest current batsmen crops up, Sangakkara is usually in the mix, along with a few others, prominent among them being AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. All of them feature prominently in the table below, which lists the batsmen with the highest averages against all teams, with a 2500-run cut-off. Sangakkara is second in the list, next only to AB de Villiers, who has averaged 65.19 during this period.

Unlike Sangakkara, though, de Villiers hasn't played a whole lot against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and hasn't done particularly well against them either. He has played only six Tests against them - all before 2009 - and scored 214 runs at an average of 35.67. That means his average in the last five years excluding Tests against these two teams remains 65.19, from 43 Tests, while Sangakkara's drops to 56.70, which is still outstanding. During these last five years, Sangakkara scored 999 runs from five Tests against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, again the highest by far. (In his case, all five Tests were against Bangladesh.)

It's clear that Sangakkara and de Villiers are among the top batsmen going around today, but a break-up of the numbers indicate de Villiers has been more consistent so far in terms of stats in different countries. His career summary shows he averages more than 43 in every country where he has played at least three Tests; in Asia he averages 65.09, and he does better away than at home.

Sangakkara, though, has a few areas he'll want to improve on. In nine Tests in England, he averages 30.58; in eight matches in South Africa, he average 35.75. Surprisingly, he hasn't been prolific in India either, averaging 36.50 from ten Tests. (Click here for his complete career summary.)

An overall average of 38.92 in Australia, England and South Africa is respectable, but Sangakkara will want it to go beyond 40, or even 45, like some of the top batsmen from the subcontinent. Sachin Tendulkar averaged 51.64 in these three countries, Rahul Dravid 45.88.

In three previous tours to England, Sangakkara never managed to average 40 in a series - his highest was 38.50, in 2006. Now in the form of his life, the tour to England later this year presents an excellent opportunity for him to set the numbers right.