Kumar Sangakkara: The wolf who lived for the pack
On a humid afternoon in August 2001, a 23-year-old youngster was seen addressing a handful of journalists after he had scored his maiden century in Test cricket against India.
The knock turned out to be a match-winning one and ended up cementing Kumar Sangakkara's place in Sri Lanka's playing 11 for the foreseeable future. Following the knock, fans and pundits were confident that this youngster from Matale, a small village in Sri Lanka, would one day become the backbone of the Sri Lankan batting line up.
Sangakkara is widely regarded as one of the most polished stroke makers in the modern game. His memorable knock of 192 against Australia in Hobart in 2007 confirmed his reputation as the mainstay of Sri Lanka's batting order and he went on to achieve the number 1 ranking in Test cricket later that year.
Sangakkara's arrival on the scene was quite sensational. A blistering 156 against the Zimbabwe A side in 2000 was enough to convince the selectors of his ability and he also boasted a temperament which was way beyond his age.
Sangakkara began scaling new heights under the leadership of teammate Mahela Jayawardene. A splendid counter-attacking century against the Kiwis on a lively green batting strip in Wellington in 2006-07 was evidence of his ability to deal with any kind of bowling attack on any surface.
Handed the responsibility of leading the side after the resignation of Mahela Jayawardene, Sangakkara was instrumental in guiding the Lankan side out of troubled waters time and again. The southpaw guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup final in 2011 and also to thumping wins in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
Sangakkara stepped down from captaincy following an agonizing loss against Asian rivals India in the 2011 World Cup final.
He went on to confirm his place in the pantheon of greats when he became the joint-fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.
In the holy quartet of Sri Lankan cricket, Arjuna Ranatunga was the Creator, Sanath Jayasuriya was the Destroyer, Mahela Jayawardene was the Redeemer, and Sangakkara was the Protector.
Sangakkara's hunger for runs only grew with each passing game. He became the first batsman in the history of the game to score four consecutive centuries in World Cup cricket, achieving this feat in the 2015 World Cup. Ultimately, his heroics went in vain as the Lankans went down to South Africa in the quarterfinals.
It was after this shocking loss that the then 38-year-old announced his retirement from limited-overs cricket, while he went on to play his last Test match, against India, later that year.
Life away from the cricket field
Off the field, Sangakkara's demeanour ended up earning him a lot of fans. Not once did he bring the game of cricket into disrepute and he will always be remembered as the wolf who lived for the pack.
Here's wishing the Lankan southpaw a very happy 42nd birthday.
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