Kumar Sangakkara: Tests by the numbers

12,400 – Runs scored by Kumar Sangakkara in his Test career, the most by any left-handed batsman in history. Sangakkara’s tally is also the fifth-highest of all time. Only Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar have registered more runs. However, since his debut against South Africa on July 20, 2000, no batsman in world has scored more runs.

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11,679 – Runs Kumar Sangakkara scored at number three, the most by any batsman in that position. Dravid (10,524) is the only other batsman who has 10,000-plus runs at first drop. 

57.40 – The batting average of Kumar Sangakkara, the highest for any batsman in the world in the past 40 years.

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38 – Test centuries by Kumar Sangakkara, again the most by any left-handed batsman. Only three others – Ricky Ponting (41), Jacques Kallis (45) and Sachin Tendulkar (51) – have compiled more hundreds.

6,554 – Runs Kumar Sangakkara has accumulated in partnership with Mahela Jayawardene, making it the second most successful pair in Tets history. The Jayawardene-Sangakkara pair has accounted for 6,554 runs in 120 innings, and nearly 10 per cent of these runs came in one innings alone – 624 against South Africa at Colombo (SSC) in 2006, which is also the highest stand in first-class cricket history.

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8 – Times Kumar Sangakkara has batted in an innings for more than 500 minutes, the most by any batsman in Tests. Three other batsmen – Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar and Mahela Jayawardene – have batted for 500-plus minutes on seven occasions.

Eight is also the number of sixes Sangakkara hit during his magnum-opus 319 against Bangladesh in 2014, the most maximums by a Sri Lankan batsman in a Test innings. The previous record was six sixes by Sanath Jayasuriya, also against Bangladesh in 2002.

2 – Batsmen who have reached a triple century in a Test with a six. Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara are the only two players to achieve this feat. The former brought his triple-ton by a six off Saqlain Mushtaq at Multan in 2004 while the latter did it off Shakib Al Hasan at Chittagong in 2014. Sangakkara’s three consecutive shots leading to 300 were four, six and six.

36 – The age of Kumar Sangakkara at the time of scoring that triple century, the third oldest to reach this milestone. Sangakkara was 36 years and 101 days when he scored 319 at Chittagong – the first ever triple century in Bangladesh.

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424 – Runs Kumar Sangakkara scored in that Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong, the third-highest aggregate by a batsman in a Test. He is also one of only two batsmen after Graham Gooch to score a triple century and century in the same match.

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1438 – Runs Kumar Sangakkara scored in Tests in 2014, the most by any Sri Lankan batsman in a calendar year, breaking the record of Sanath Jayasuriya (1271 runs in 1997).

11 – Double-centuries Kumar Sangakkara has scored in Tests, behind only Sir Don Bradman’s 12.

230 – Kumar Sangakkara’s maiden double-century remains the second-highest score by a wicketkeeper-batsman in Tests.

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53 – first-class centuries scored by Kumar Sangakkara, the most by a batsman from Sri Lanka. The only other Sri Lankan to have 50-plus first-class centuries is Mahela Jaywardene (51).

69.60 – Kumar Sangakkara’s Test batting average as captain, the third-highest in history. Only Don Bradman (101.51) and Angelo Mathews (71.89) have better averages when captaining the side (min 1000 runs).

938 – The rating Kumar Sangakkara achieved in the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen in December 2007. It is by far the highest any Sri Lankan has reached and joint sixth-highest of all time. Sangakkara reached this summit after he scored back-to-back double centuries (200* and 222*) in a series Bangladesh in 2007, followed it with 57 and 192 against Australia at Hobart and then scored 92 and 152 against England at Kandy at the end of 2007. This run of form (915 runs in six innings) triggered a jump in his career ratings from 835 to 938.

Achievements

- Wisden Cricketer of the year 2012

- ICC Cricketer of the year 2012

- ICC Test player of the year 2012

- Youngest to deliver MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture in 2011

- Quickest to reach 8000, 9000, 10,000 (joint), 11,000 and 12,000 Test runs