Kumar Sangakkara: Statistically, the greatest Test batsman since Don Bradman?
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The game of cricket has witnessed many batting greats and among all of those, Donald Badman of Australia with a monumental average of 99.94 is regarded as the best. Having played only fewer Test matches than many modest performers of modern times, the Australian earned this name because of his consistency with the bat – 6996 runs in just 80 innings.
Even though majority of his runs came against one opposition – England, his feat will remain as an everlasting record that can never be broken.
In this world, people love comparisons, hence, many great batsmen who entertained the ardent cricket fans with their talents were time and again compared with Bradman, and debated as best of all times.
Coming back to Kumar Sangakkara, he has silently entered a league of legends from being just a modern great with consistency that reflects in his average. For someone who was part of 123* Test matches, averaging 58.53 is not the simplest thing to do. That puts him on No.5 in the all time highest career averages in test cricket history. (minimum 25 test caps)
Interestingly, no one above him in that list have played more Tests than the Sri Lankan.
| Player | Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | Average | Highest | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Bradman (Aus) | 52 | 80 | 10 | 6996 | 99.94 | 334 | 29 |
| Herbert Sutclifee (Eng) | 54 | 84 | 9 | 4555 | 60.73 | 194 | 16 |
| Ken Barrington (Eng) | 82 | 131 | 15 | 6806 | 58.67 | 256 | 20 |
| Everton Weekes (WI) | 48 | 81 | 5 | 4455 | 58.61 | 207 | 15 |
| Kumara Sangakkara (SL) | 123* | 210 | 17 | 11298 | 58.53 | 319 | 36 |
The fact that Sangakkara kept wickets for a brief span of his career weights more value to this left-hander’s record. When split down his performances based on his role in the side, Sangakkara’s average makes an upward rise and lies only next to Bradman’s
| Matches | Runs | Average | Highest Score | 100s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As wicket-keeper | 48 | 3117 | 40.48 | 230 | 7 |
| As specialist batsmen | 75 | 8181 | 70.52 | 319 | 29 |
| Total | 123* | 11298 | 58.53 | 319 | 36 |
When he started off, he was just a genuine, qualified Test player. As a wicket-keeper, his batting exploits were a bonus for his side then. When the south-paw gave away his gloves to stake a claim in the side as a pure batsmen, not many would have predicted a miraculous turn around in his numbers. The fact that he is capable and talented is not something people would differ on, but if you ask for a frank view on his career that is now reaching more heights with every innings, even a die-hard Sri Lankan fan wouldn’t have thrown his money on him to be standing at this level towards the end of his career.
However, Sangakkara failed to attract more fans to his batting that highly resembles a hard worker toiling with his tools than an artist, exhibiting his array of strokes. Here, he falls behind his fellow modern greats lead by Sachin Tendulkar.
He has similarities in approach to his innings to Rahul Dravid’s. Both of them try to blunt the attacking instinct of a bowler and forces them to bowl to his strength to score runs, but despite being a left hander, he cannot match’s Dravid’s easiness on your eyes with his strokes. But Sangakkara has the numbers that tilts the advantage to his side.
As a batsmen, the 36-year-old clearly outnumbers all other leading batsmen of his time including Sachin Tendulkar, with a superior average.
| Opposition | Matches | Runs | Average | Highest | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 7 | 764 | 63.66 | 192 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 10 | 1612 | 124.00 | 319 | 7 |
| England | 9 | 657 | 43.80 | 152 | 3 |
| India | 9 | 937 | 66.92 | 219 | 4 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 606 | 55.09 | 156* | 3 |
| Pakistan | 15 | 1803 | 75.12 | 211 | 6 |
| South Africa | 9 | 1079 | 63.47 | 287 | 3 |
| West Indies | 6 | 442 | 55.25 | 150 | 1 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 281 | 140.25 | 270 | 1 |
When considering the home and away record of Sangakkara as a batmen, it reveals that his average dips by more than 13 runs per dismissal, but still 64 in away games is more than what a team needs from a batsmen.
| Venue | Matches | Runs | Average | Highest | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 39 | 4283 | 77.87 | 287 | 16 |
| Away | 30 | 3216 | 64.32 | 319 | 11 |
| Neutral | 6 | 682 | 62.00 | 211 | 2 |
Even as a wicket-keeper he manages fifth place among the best in the world.
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | Highest Score | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Flower (Zim) | 55 | 4404 | 53.70 | 192 | 12 |
| Adam Gilchrist (Aus) | 96 | 5570 | 47.60 | 204 | 17 |
| Les Ames (Eng) | 44 | 2387 | 43.40 | 149 | 9 |
| Matt Prior (Eng) | 75 | 3920 | 40.83 | 131* | 7 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 48 | 3117 | 40.48 | 230 | 7 |
| MS Dhoni (Ind) | 83 | 4459 | 38.77 | 224 | 6 |
| Brad Haddin (Aus) | 57 | 3033 | 35.26 | 169 | 4 |
| Alec Stewart (Eng) | 82 | 4540 | 34.92 | 173 | 6 |
| Brendon McCullm (NZ) | 52 | 2803 | 34.18 | 185 | 5 |
Here comes the important part, even though he may have a great away record, he only have a modest overall average of 37.05 in England. Strangely he averages more against Australia in Australia but just a meagre 30.45 at home. Against India he has a poor average of 36.50 in six away tests. But, he has thoroughly dominated Pakistan and Bangladesh at home. He averages a 92.41 and Bangladesh 114.77, scoring over 1000 runs against each of them.
The table shows his record against top test playing nations – home and away.
| Opposition | Home/Away | Matches | Runs | Average | Highest Score | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | Away | 10 | 667 | 37.05 | 147 | 2 |
| Home | 11 | 706 | 39.22 | 152 | 1 | |
| Overall | 21 | 1373 | 38.13 | 152 | 3 | |
| Australia | Away | 5 | 543 | 60.33 | 192 | 1 |
| Home | 6 | 335 | 30.45 | 79 | 0 | |
| Overall | 11 | 878 | 43.90 | 192 | 1 | |
| South Africa | Away | 8 | 572 | 35.75 | 108 | 1 |
| Home | 7 | 790 | 65.83 | 287 | 2 | |
| Overall | 15 | 1362 | 48.64 | 287 | 3 | |
| India | Away | 6 | 365 | 36.50 | 137 | 1 |
| Home | 9 | 872 | 74.33 | 219 | 4 | |
| Overall | 15 | 1257 | 57.13 | 219 | 5 |
This table, is not conclusive enough to come to a decision about whether Sangakkara is a greatest. Let us have a look at his overall average in home and away, also considering the fact Bangladesh’s poor Test quality, we exclude his figures against them.
| Venue | Matches | Runs | Average | Highest | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 67 | 6138 | 63.27 | 287 | 21 |
| Excluding Bangladesh (Home) | 58 | 5105 | 58.01 | 287 | 16 |
| Away | 50 | 4478 | 52.68 | 319 | 13 |
| Excluding Bangladesh (Away) | 44 | 3695 | 49.26 | 270 | 11 |
| Overall | 123* | 11298 | 319 | 58.53 | 36 |
| Excluding Bangladesh (Overall) | 108 | 9482 | 287 | 54.49 | 29 |
Highest run getters in test match history:
| Player | Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | Average | Highest | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) | 200 | 329 | 33 | 15921 | 53.78 | 248* | 51 | 68 |
| Ricky Ponting (Aus) | 168 | 287 | 29 | 13378 | 51.85 | 257 | 41 | 62 |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 166 | 280 | 40 | 13289 | 55.37 | 224 | 45 | 58 |
| Rahul Dravid | 164 | 286 | 32 | 13288 | 52.31 | 270 | 36 | 63 |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 131 | 232 | 6 | 11953 | 52.88 | 400* | 34 | 48 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 144 | 241 | 15 | 11374 | 50.32 | 374 | 33 | 47 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 154 | 263 | 46 | 11327 | 52.19 | 203* | 29 | 63 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 123 | 210 | 17 | 11298 | 319 | 58.53 | 36 | 45 |
*Stats updated till 15 June 2014