Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Kumar Sangakkara – one of the greatest cricketers!' that was published in Newsband

Kumar Sangakkara – one of the greatest cricketers!

The Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara is among the very best the game has seen. Only four batsmen have exceeded his tally of 12,400 Test runs, and no one with more than 8,500 runs has averaged as much as his 57.40. He averages a staggering 66.78. Only Don Bradman (99.94), among those with at least 1,000 runs, has done better. And only the peerless Bradman has more scores of over 200 — 12, to Sangakkara’s 11, although in far fewer innings.

Sangakkara boldly addressed the larger problems the world game faced: narrow-mindedness, corruption, political manipulation. He challenged those in charge to set themselves higher standards, indeed to “adopt the values enshrined by the [Sri Lankan] team over the years: integrity, transparency, commitment and discipline”.

Kumar Sangakarra is indeed one of the greatest sportsmen the game has witnessed. He was always ready to highlight the flaws in the game and also usher the back breaking struggle a cricketer has to undergo before enjoying the fanfare. Sangakarra's association with the game will not only benefit Sri Lankan cricket but will also ensure that cricket remains the gentleman's game.

Sangakkara is class personified - not only his dignified behaviour on and off the field but his general demeanor. His playing abilities were suited to all forms of Cricket - tests, ODIs and T20s. He will be greatly missed not only by the Sri Lankan team but by all cricket fans around the World.

He is the great example of sportsmanship, and one among the stylish left hand batsman ever seen and he ended up with his master class straight drive in his last innings. Nowadays it’s really hard to find a talented and down-to-earth personality in any field. His disciplinary play so far will definitely be inspirational to other players in India who lag behind in controlling their anger though they have talent.

Sangakkara has uplifted the cricket to the new level. He is truly a match winner, who always fought for Sri Lanka in tough situations. No one can forget his magnificent centuries in the recent World Cup. After Sachin Tendulkar, he is one of the greatest batsmen with outstanding average. Whenever Sri Lanka had early wicket fall, Sangakkara proved to be one man army. He would not only make a good score but also put Sri Lanka in winning position. He rarely suffered injuries in his cricketing career. He was one of the fittest batsmen in the world of cricket. He was outstanding behind the wickets. Surely World will miss this great batsman wicketkeeper and Sri Lanka will most.

The Indian media only had time for Tendulkar, but if only one looks closely, Sangakkara has indeed done better, with the additional burdens of a wicketkeeper and Captaincy on him, in both of which too, he excelled. Alas, he did not even get a fraction of the grand send off that any Indian player with half his abilities gets in India, particularly with our media.