It was a warm sunny evening of April 2014. India was playing Sri Lanka in World T20 final and were clear favourites to win the game and cash in on the coveted Cup.
However, one man passionately stood between victory and India: Kumar Sangakkara.
The run maestro and man of the match scored an unbeaten half century and brought Sri Lanka the World Cup which had eluded them ever since the magical performance of Arjuna Ranatunga’s side in 1996.
This was not the only time when this stylish Kandy batsman crushed the opposition. Playing in the shadows of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Pointing, Jacques Kallis for most of his career, Sangakkara was probably not as celebrated as others. However, his achievements speak volumes of cricketing acumen and highlight, what a gift to the cricketing world he was.
Boasting a career lasting over 15 years and amassing over 28,000 runs in international cricket (second to Sachin Tendulkar’s 34,000-plus), Sangakkara has to his credit 11 Test double hundreds (second only to Don Bradmas’s 12), 38 Test centuries and 25 one-day centuries (both being fourth highest world over). He has the accolade of being the fastest batsman to reach 8000, 9000, 11,000 and 12,000 runs in Test cricket (and joint fastest to reach 10,000 runs) and has taken 501 dismissals behind the wickets in one-day cricket (surpassing Adam Gilchrist’s 472 by wide margin).
The list of awards that go along with these stats are also lengthy, the prominent one’s being Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for the years 2011 and 2014 and ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2012. The statistics are mind-boggling.
However, Sangakkara is not only about numbers. He has been regarded as a true gentleman on and off the field. Earnestly congratulating the winning team after losing the finals (2011 Cricket World Cup where he was the captain), accepting full responsibility for the no-ball incident which denied Virender Sehwag a century, or carrying a tray of water glasses for the reporters who visited his house, are some of the instances which illustrate his humility and self-effacement.
What stands out for me, though, is his famous MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s in 2011. Sangakkara was the youngest active international cricketer to deliver this lecture. His candid words moved many and showed his passion for Sri Lankan Cricket:
“My loyalty will be to the ordinary Sri Lankan fan… I will play my cricket for them. Their spirit is the true spirit of cricket. With me, are all my people – I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and Burgher. I am a Buddhist, a Hindu, a follower of Islam and Christianity. I am today, and always, proudly, a Sri Lankan.”
As Sangakkara walks into the sunset, not only Sri Lankan cricket but the entire cricket world will miss him. It would not be an overstatement to say that the cricketing world will be poorer after Sangakkara. His retirement marks an end of an era.
We all know that sportsmen have limited time. However, there are few who leave us sad when they retire and force us to ask the question: ‘why did it have to end?’. The lean tall man from Kandy, on whom the entire nation had a crush, will be missed by many across the globe. Farewell Kumar Sangakkara. #ThankYouSanga.
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