Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර) born 27 October 1977 is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka in 134 Test matches from 2000 to 2015, including fifteen as captain.

Kumar Sangakkara was born in Matale, Central Province, on 27 October 1977.

He is the fourth and youngest child of Kshema, a civil lawyer, and Kumari Sangakkara.

Kumar was brought up in the family home near Kandy.

His father was very keen on sport and would daily spend hours coaching his children.

Sangakkara's childhood, youth and most of his cricket career were set against the background of the ruinous Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009) between the Tamil militants and the government of Sri Lanka.

It is generally held that the war began with the Black July riots in 1983.

During Black July, Sangakkara's parents offered shelter to Tamil families, whom six-year-old Kumar viewed as his friends.

He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy.

Musically talented, he was a chorister and played the violin.

He excelled in several sports and his mother Kumari wanted him to concentrate on his best one.

The choice was between cricket and tennis.

Kumari sought the advice of college principal Leonard de Alwis, who said Kumar should focus on cricket.

The Sangakkaras are a sporting family and Kumar's three elder siblings all excelled in sports at Trinity.

His two sisters, Thushari and Saranga, played basketball and tennis respectively, both at representative level.

Saranga won a national tennis championship.

Kumar's elder brother Vemindra represented the college in both cricket and badminton.

Sangakkara represented his school's Under-13, under-15, under-17, and first XI teams.

In August 1994, when he was 16, he went to Kuala Lumpur with Sri Lanka's national under-19 team and played in two one-day matches against Bangladesh under-19s.

Even so, he modestly described himself as a "run-of-the-mill" cricketer while he was at school, but he said facing real competition at Nondescripts Cricket Club spurred him on to improve his game and strive to reach a high standard.

Academically successful, he was the school's Senior Prefect (Head Boy) and received its Trinity Lion and Ryde Gold Medal awards.

He passed the Advance Level Examination and gained entry to the Faculty of Law at the University of Colombo.

After he entered the University of Colombo in 1996, Sangakkara joined Nondescripts who were one of the city's most notable clubs and he spent most of his domestic career, until 2014, with them.

Having played for Sri Lanka under-19s while he was still at school, he made further appearances for the team in the 1996–97 season.

In first-class cricket, he played for Nondescripts Cricket Club from 1997–98 to 2013–14 and for Surrey County Cricket Club from 2015 to 2017.

He also played for numerous franchise teams.

He was born in Matale, Central Province.

Sangakkara played mostly as a wicket-keeper-batter and is generally regarded as one of the greatest players of this type in cricket history.

He batted left-handed and, although he rarely bowled, was a right-arm off spinner.

In all three forms of international cricket, Sangakkara is the second-highest run-scorer, having amassed a total of 28,016 including 63 centuries.

In February 1997, he played in three Under-19 Tests against the touring India under-19 team, though he did not keep wicket.

In the second match, he was run out for 96 in Sri Lanka's first innings.

In March, he played in three Under-19 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against India under-19s.

Sangakkara began his professional career in the 1997–98 season when he was 20 years old.

He made his List A debut on 28 December 1997 in a 50-over match, playing for Nondescripts against Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.

The match was a Hatna Trophy semi-final which Nondescripts won by 71 runs.

However, he had to indefinitely postpone his law degree due to his cricketing commitments; he said in 2011 that he would consider finishing it after his cricket career ended.

Since retirement, he has worked as a commentator for Sky Sports and served as President of the MCC from October 2019 to October 2020.

In January 2021, Sangakkara became the coach of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in June 2021, the second Sri Lankan player to be inducted after Muttiah Muralitharan.