Kumar Sangakkara: A Century Well Earned

Kumar Sangakkara
will become the fifth Sri Lankan cricketer to play 100 Tests during the third
and final match against
Australia. He'll join the giants of the island, Muttiah Muralitharan {133
matches}, Mahela Jayawardene {121}, Chaminda Vaas {111} and Sanath Jayasuriya
{110}, in passing the milestone.

The great thing about Sangakkara's record is that
he has missed only two Tests since his debut. Sri Lanka won one and lost one in
those two matches.

Sri Lanka's Most
Capped Test Cricketers

Here's a list of all Sri Lankan Test players with
50 or more Test caps.

Interestingly, three cricketers of these 12 - Jayawardene,
Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera - will play alongside Sangakkara in
his 100^th Test.

Sangakkara, who made his Test debut in the Galle
Test against South Africa in July 2000, is the second Sri Lankan to aggregate
8500 Test runs, the first being Jayawardene with 9801.

Sangakkara would become the 51^st
cricketer to appear in 100 or more Tests. The country-wise break-up of the
previous 50 is - Australia {11}, England {08}, India {08}, New Zealand {02},
Pakistan {04}, South Africa {05}, Sri Lanka {04} and West Indies {08}.

A Champion Batsman
- Home & Abroad

Sangakkara has played 99 tests oveall, 57 home
tests and 42 away tests. His performance is tabulated below.  

The Road Forward

Sangakkara belongs to the new generation of cricketers
who took Sri Lankan cricket forward in all forms. With players like
Jayawardene, Muralitharan, Atapattu, Samaraweera and Dilshan, Sri Lanka have
been able to win more games, both home and away.

This is especially true when Sangakkara has been
in the team. He will be truly hard to replace.

Note: All statistics are as of
15.09.11, a day prior to the start of the third Test
between Sri Lanka and Australia at Col-SSC on 16.09.11.