A LANKAN LION FONDLY KNOWN AS SANGA

He has scored 14,189 runs at an average of 41.97, in the 403 ODIs he has played till date. In Test Cricket he has gone on to amass 12,203 runs in 130 Tests matches at a staggering average of 58.66. These stats belong to none other than Kumar Sangakkara, fondly known as Sanga, who has been the backbone of the Sri Lankan batting line-up for more than a decade now.

The classy southpaw was born on October 27, 1977 at Matale, Sri Lanka. He started out by playing a number of sports including Badminton, Tennis, Swimming, Table-Tennis along with Cricket at the junior school level and also went on to win national colors for Badminton and Tennis at his younger age. The then principal of Trinity College, Leonard de Alwis, advised his mother to encourage him to concentrate on Cricket. From then on, he went to represent his school at various different competitions. He was a chorister and played the violin in his school days. He was awarded "The Trinity Lion", the most prestigious prize awarded to a Trinity sportsperson, for his exceptional batting and wicket-keeping skills in the 1996 season when he was 19. He was awarded with the highest honor of Trinity College, "The Ryde Gold Medal", for the best all-round student in his year.

Sanga's international cricket journey began, when he represented Sri Lanka 'A' side to tour South Africa in 1998-99. His unbeaten 156 against Zimbabwe 'A', in that tour, secured him a place in the Sri Lankan national team. He made his Test debut, against South Africa, on July 20, 2000. His first Test century came against India, when the latter toured Sri Lanka for a three-match series. His 105 not-out, batting at no 3, laid the foundation for a 10-wicket Sri Lankan win. His first double century came against Pakistan in 2002, at the Asian Test Championship final. He made his ODI debut on July 5, 2000 against Pakistan. His first hundred came against Pakistan in April 2003. And in July 2005, he was selected for the ICC World XI ODI team.

Sangakkara succeeded Mahela Jayawardene as captain of Sri Lanka, in all formats of the game, in February 2009. He was 31 at that time and was well experienced having played 80 Tests and 246 ODIs. His first major tournament as captain was the ICC World Twenty-20 hosted by England in June, a competition in which Sri Lanka emerged as the Runners-Up. He captained Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, held in the sub-continent, a tournament in which Sri Lanka made it to the finals. He was in prolific form throughout the tournament scoring 465 runs from 9 games and was the third-highest run-getter behind teammate Tilakaratane Dilshan and Sachin Tendulkar. He stepped down as captain post the World Cup. He was also instrumental in the final of the ICC World Twenty-20 2014, when he scored a 51 not-out off 33 balls against India, which saw Sri Lanka win their second ICC trophy since 1996. Kumar Sangakkara announced his retirement after the ongoing Cricket World Cup.

Ø  His Cricket World Cup 2015 Journey:

Kumar Sangakkara has gone on to break quite a few records in the last tournament of his career. On February 14, in the game where Sri Lanka played hosts New Zealand, he became the second-highest run-scorer, behind Sachin Tendulkar, in ODI history surpassing Ricky Ponting of Australia. On February 26, in the game agianst Bangladesh, he went on to score his 22nd ODI century, and his first of the tournament, in his 400th ODI. On March 1, in the game against England, Sanga along with Lahiru Thirimanne, put on a record breaking partnership of 212* for the second wicket. He scored his 23rd century, and his second of the tournament, in this game. His century came in just 70 balls and is his fastest century overall and the fastest century by a Sri Lankan in World Cup Cricket. Sanga scored his third century on the trot in this World Cup, in the game against Australia in their next group encounter. He passed 14,000 ODI runs in this game becoming the first Sri Lankan and the second player overall, behind Sachin Tendulkar, to do so. In the very next game against Scotland, he scored a huge 124 and became the First Player to score Four consecutive Hundreds in Cricket World Cup History. He is leading the charts in the run-getters in this World Cup having scored 496 Runs in 6 Innings at an Average of 124.

Kumar Sangakkara will be missed by Sri Lankan Cricket. His contribution to Sri Lankan ODI and Test Cricket will remain as one of the most significant. His contribution to World Cricket, too, will never be forgotten, He truly is one of the finest Wicketkeeper Batsmen in World Cricket will ever see.

Ø  Test Statistics:

Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s	Not Outs
130	225	12,203	58.39	54.25	38	51	16

Highest Score - 319 against Bangladesh at Chittagong on February 4, 2014

Ø  ODI Statistics:

Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s	Not Outs
403	379	14,189	41.98	79.04	25	93	41

Highest Score - 169 against South Africa at Colombo on July 20, 2013

Ø  T20I Statistics:

Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	50s	Not Outs
56	53	1382	31.41	119.55	8	9

Highest Score - 78 against India at Nagpur in December 2009