Why Sangakkara is one of the best test batsmen of all time

Centuries in matches won

Excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh

When the records against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are stripped off, Sanga has scored 14 centuries in winning consequences. Sachin has scored an equal number of centuries and Lara does not even feature in the list. 50% of Sanga’s centuries have resulted in a victory for Sri Lanka.

Win percentage after scoring a century

A batsman’s match-winning ability can be computed by the percentage of matches won after scoring a century. When Sangakkara scores a century, Sri Lanka wins 50% of the games (excluding both Zimbabwe and Bangladesh). This is phenomenal considering the fact that Lara and Sachin has a comparatively lower percentages of 18.75 and 32.55 respectively.

Sangakkara can be considered a machine that propagates centuries at the Test level. Once again detesters claim that most of his centuries have come against against bleaks. But the number of innings he takes to score a test century excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh is still better than both Sachin and Lara.

Innings per century excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh

Sangakkara scores a century once in every 6.93 innings. He scores a century in every 4.071 test innings in matches won. In other words,  Sangakkara scores a century in nearly every 4 innings when Sri Lanka wins. Sachin’s and Lara’s records are far below than that of Sangakkara.

Number of double centuries excluding those against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh

Sangakkara has 10 Test double centuries, just two less than that of Don Bradman. 6 of his double centuries have come against top quality teams. It is noteworthy that he scored a belligerent 192 against Australia in Hobart and narrowly missed a double ton when Rudi Koertzen, the umpire mistakenly gave him out.

All of Lara’s double centuries have against top teams. Sachin has scored only 4 such double centuries.

Number of Man of the Match Awards

Man of the match awards is an excellent tool to measure a player’s match-winning capability. Sangakkara has won 16 man of the match awards in Tests which is better than Sachin’s 14 and Lara’s 12. The only batsman with a higher number of Man of the match awards than Sangakkara is Kallis, which may also be because of his all round capability.

Number of man of the match awards

Sangakkara has won 4 man of the series awards. Sachin has 5 and Lara has 4.

Number of man of the series awards

Sangakkara’s cumulative Test average

Sanga’s cumulative average graph clearly shows that he has been consistent through out his Test career. The linear average of Sanga has always been in the ascend. He has never averaged below 50 since the 15th of December, 2006.

In terms of number of innings required, Sangakkara is the fastest batsman to reach 8,000, 9,000, and 11,000 runs in Test cricket. He is also the joint fastest to 10,000. His rate of run scoring per match is far greater than that of Sachin Tendulkar. Sanga’s graph almost aligns with that of Lara except for the tail end, at which Sanga seems to edge ahead of Lara.

Average in the 3rd and 4th innings of a Test match

A batsman’s record in the 3rd and 4th innings of a Test match would show how good a batsman is during pressure situations and under difficult batting conditions. Sangakkara has a far better 3rd and 4th innings average than Sachin and Lara.

Sangakkara against world-class bowlers

Sangakkara averages 50.85 when facing oppositions that had any of these following bowlers.

James Anderson or Stuart Broad or Allan Donald or Mitchel Johnson or Brett Lee or Glenn McGrath or Shoaib Akhtar or Dale Steyn or Graeme Swann or Waqar Younis or Shane Warne.

An average of 50 is commendable, since the aforementioned bowlers are known for their menacing ability.

500 runs in a Test Series

Sangakkara has scored 500 runs in a series once, when he amassed 516 runs from 3 games, scoring at an average of 86 which included two centuries against Pakistan in UAE in 2011/2012. It should be noted that Sangakkara has never been a part of a 4 match or 5 match test series. Even though Sachin has played 5 and 4 match test series, he has not scored in excess of 500 runs in any of those series. Brian Lara has scored over 500 runs in a series 7 times, but he has scored only once in excess of 500 runs in a 3 match series.

Record at Number 3

Sangakkara has scored the most number of runs at the difficult number 3 position, which proves how good a  batsman he is. Since a number 3 should be able to play both pace bowling and spin bowling equally well, only batsman of exacting qualities can thrive at number 3.

Sangakkara’s average at number 3 is bettered only by Bradman, Barrington and Hammond.

Test Ratings

Sanga’s career best rating of 938 is greater than that achieved by Kallis, Lara and Tendulkar which speaks volumes about his ability to take a game away from the oppositions.

ICC Awards

Sangakkara was chosen for the ICC Test XI as a wicket-keeping batsman in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2010 he made it to the ICC Test XI as a specialist batsman and in 2011 he was named as the captain of the ICC Test side. He won the LG People’s Choice award in 2011 and 2012. In 2012, he was named the Test Player of the Year and also made his way into the ICC Test XI.

Sangakkara has improved immensely since making his debut in Tests. Once primarily a back foot player, he is now able to thread the field with extreme elegance off the front foot. He is improving day by day and match by match. But he doesn’t get the same puffery as Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara. It may be because he is not a ball basher but an accumulator. But since 2013, he has added another dimension to his batting by trying to dominate bowling attacks.

Even though he hasn’t played as many games as he should have overseas, his stats plus some of the innings he played overseas manifest his batting prowess. Just in his 6th match Sangakkara opened the innings for Sri Lanka against South Africa in South Africa braving the venomous pace of Allan Donald, Makhaya Nitni and Jacque Kallis and scored 98. He was the last man to be dismissed as no other Sri Lankan batsman crossed 50.

In the 4th innings of a Test against Australia in Hobart, on a crumbling surface Sangakkara bludgeoned 192 against an attack that had Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clarke and Brett Lee. In comparison to other eminent players, Sanga hadn’t had the chance to play much overseas Tests. In the measly Tests he has played overseas, he has shown the world what he is made of. His performances in England showed how well he has adapted to the English conditions after the spree of earlier failures. In 2014 in England Sanga averaged 85 with the bat.

Sangakkara’s stats and his performances show that he deserves a place along with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Statistically, he is the best Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman. Based on performances even though the elegant left-hander may not have done enough to be called the best after Bradman, he definitely stands out of the rest of the batsman.

The Sri Lankan stalwart has stats that prove that he is as good as Tendulkar or Lara, if not better. Yet, the recognition he deserves still eludes him. May be, had he been born just a few kilometers north of Sri Lanka, you could have heard people saying “Sanga is the best”.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ALSO PUBLISHED IN SPORTSKEEDA a href=”http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/kumar-sangakkara-one-greatest-test-batsmen”>HERE

For a comparison between Sanga and Sachin follow this a href=”http://localhost/tac/2014/05/sanga-vs-sachin-in-tests-a-statistical-analysis/”>link