The greatest men's internationals of the century No. 7: Kumar Sangakkara

Live Scores Matches (17) ENG-W vs NZ-W (1) Asian Games Qualifier (2) ENG-W vs IND-W (1) Vitality Blast Men (3) Vitality Blast Women (2) Blast Women League 2 (1) NZ-A Women in SL (1) GAK One Day (1) T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier A (3) South Africa A in England (1) UpcomingQualifier 1 • IPL • Dharamsala Match yet to beginScheduleTable RESULT 3rd T20I • Hove (13.5/20 ov, T:81) 81/3 ENG Women won by 7 wickets (with 37 balls remaining)Schedule Live Asian Games Qualifier • Kuala Lumpur (8.4/20 ov) 54/1 THA Women chose to bat.ScheduleTable UpcomingAsian Games Qualifier • Kuala Lumpur Match starts in3hrs52minsScheduleTable RESULT Tour Match • Chelmsford (20 ov, T:155) 200/6 IND Women won by 7 wickets (with 22 balls remaining)Schedule UpcomingVitality Blast Men • Southampton Match yet to beginScheduleTable UpcomingVitality Blast Women • Southampton Match yet to beginScheduleTable RESULT Vitality Blast Women • Manchester (19.3/20 ov, T:163) 163/7 BLZ Women won by 3 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)ScheduleTable RESULT Blast Women League 2 • Canterbury (15.5/20 ov, T:131) 132/1 Kent Women won by 9 wickets (with 25 balls remaining)ScheduleTable RESULT 3rd unofficial T20I • Dambulla (18.5/20 ov, T:79) 79/5 NZ-A Women won by 5 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)Schedule ABANDONED GAK One Day • Amanullah Match abandoned without a ball bowledScheduleTable RESULTGaborone (Oval 1) (17.3/20 ov, T:102) 102/8 Rwanda won by 2 wickets (with 15 balls remaining)ScheduleTable RESULTGaborone (Oval 2) (20 ov, T:150) 78/8 Botswana won by 71 runsScheduleTable RESULTGaborone (Oval 2) (13.3/20 ov, T:79) 79/4 Mali won by 6 wickets (with 39 balls remaining)ScheduleTable RESULT Vitality Blast Men • Canterbury (18.2/20 ov, T:198) 199/3 Kent won by 7 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)ScheduleTable RESULT Vitality Blast Men • Manchester (20 ov, T:209) 169/9 Lancashire won by 39 runsScheduleTable RESULT 1st Unofficial Test • Arundel (T:214) 331 & 215/2 SA A won by 8 wicketsSchedule The greatest men's internationals of the century No. 7: Kumar Sangakkara 4minAndrew Fidel Fernando From hunted to hunters: Inside RCB's transformation 18hShashank Kishore Siraj's powerplay mastery frames picture-perfect season 10hShashank Kishore Qualifier 1 tactics board: Get seamers off their lengths 16hSidharth Monga 'We are here to attack' - Patidar on RCB's playoff mindset 8hShashank Kishore Solid RCB, surging GT clash for direct final ticket 13hSidharth Monga Dani Gibson reprises allrounder role to give England World Cup boost 7hValkerie Baynes Gibson, Dean knock over NZ for 80 as England cruise to series win 9hValkerie Baynes England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt out of New Zealand, India T20Is 6dESPNcricinfo staff 'No one is going to point fingers' - Pollard on Hardik's captaincy 17hESPNcricinfo staff Everything, everywhere, all at once - it's Jofra Archer in 3D at the Wankhede 1dSruthi Ravindranath Sangakkara: 'Seen very few players criticised like Parag' 1dS Sudarshanan Archer rises to third on IPL 2026 Purple Cap table, Rahul finishes season on a high 23hESPNcricinfo staff 'I was not supposed to play today' - Riyan Parag not completely fit but will play Eliminator 1dESPNcricinfo staff The greatest men's internationals of the century No. 8: Dale Steyn 23hFirdose Moonda The greatest men's internationals of the century No. 9: Joe Root 1dAlan Gardner The greatest men's internationals of the century No. 10: Steven Smith 3dAlex Malcolm The greatest men's internationals of the century: Nos. 13 to 11 The greatest men's internationals of the century: Nos. 16 to 14 The greatest men's internationals of the century: Nos. 19 to 17 The greatest men's internationals of the century: Nos. 22 to 20 The greatest men's internationals of the century: Nos. 25 to 23 The Greatest International Cricketers 2000-2025 The greatest men's internationals of the century No. 7: Kumar Sangakkara Easy on the eyes, punishing on the bowlers, Sri Lanka's batting behemoth was elegance with teeth Andrew Fidel Fernando Published: May 26, 2026, 2:04 AM (4 mins ago) Sing a song for Sanga: he accumulated tons of runs, and did it in style • AFP/Getty Images 7. Kumar Sangakkara Overall: 28,016 runs at 46.77 ave, 66.57 SR; 671 dismissals You can make the case for Sangakkara's greatness from all sorts of angles. In Tests, the numbers are, frankly, a little ridiculous. He has 12,400 runs at an average of 57.40.

If you consider him as a specialist batter alone (he was convinced to give up keeping wickets in this format early on in his career), he hit 9283 runs at 66.78. Sure, he scored heavily against weaker teams, but he also averaged over 60 in Australia and New Zealand, and hit ten Test hundreds just against Pakistan. He also hit 11 double-centuries - just one short of Don Bradman, has centuries against every opponent he played, and if we're counting his wicketkeeping in Tests, he also took 124 catches behind the sticks and pulled off 20 stumpings. And then there is his limited-overs career, which was just as epic.

He was the most consistent run machine in Sri Lanka's greatest white-ball team, hitting 14,234 ODI runs and 25 hundreds. He wasn't an explosive T20I batter, but in a team with an excellent attack, his consistency still worked. He top-scored for Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in 2014 - the country's first global triumph since 1996. The numbers Tests: 12,400 runs,ave 57.4; 144 dismissals ODIs: 14,234 runs,ave 41.98; 482 dismissals T20Is: 1382 runs, 119.55 SR; 45 dismissals But Sangakkara wasn't just a sterile accumulator of runs.

That bent-kneed cover drive made the purists swoon. He went from once being an unsteady player of spin to one of its most voracious tormentors. In limited-overs cricket, he never gave up the gloves, claiming hundreds of catches and stumpings, some of them spectacular. Rangana Herath on Sangakkara: Sanga's biggest strength was his preparation, remarkable consistency, and intelligence, which were helped by his mental toughness and adaptability.

Those qualities defined him both as a batter and as a leader. His exceptional calmness and focus really helped him handle pressure right through his career. He was also a nightmare to bowl to because he was very strong on both sides of the wicket and bowlers had such a small margin for error. With his solid batting technique and analytical mind, he was always thinking a few steps ahead of the bowlers.

He also knew exactly which bowler to attack and when, and that gave him a lot of control over the game. Something that was really special was him scoring four hundreds in a row in the 2015 ODI World Cup. That was in two different countries, in four different venues, against four different teams. That sums up his consistency and adaptability.

I feel truly fortunate to have witnessed all four innings. The greatest men's internationals: the list, jury and method Stats are for the 2000-2025 period Kumar SangakkaraSri Lanka Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • EU Privacy Rights • Cookie Policy • Feedback