Dubai: The farewell Test of Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara may be a couple of days away, but tributes from the Indian camp have to started to flow in. The second of a three-Test series, which will be Sanga’s last with the hosts up 1-0, will be held from August 20-24 at P.Sara Oval in Colombo.
In soundbytes released to the media by the Indian cricket board, the Indian Test captain Virat Kohli, star batsman Rohit Sharma and manager Ravi Shastri have waxed eloquent about one of the giants of contemporary cricket.
India Test skipper Kohli said: “He (Sangakkara) has been a wonderful player for Sri Lanka. A lot of left-handers really look up to him for the way he plays. His technique and the way he has scored runs all over the world, his numbers speak for themselves. He is a wonderful human being. He is a lovely person. I have had quite a few chats with him on the field & away from the field as well.
“I am actually glad that he is going to be playing his last few games against us because it is a special occasion for us to be a part of. Such a legend of the game retiring, as a young side it will be an honour for us to give him that respect in his last few Tests. Hopefully he doesn’t score too many runs against us but I really wish him all the luck with his life after cricket. It has been wonderful to know such a great player and a great man,” Kohli said.
Indian team director Shastri hailed Sangakkara as one of the statesmen of the modern game. “I saw him from his first game,” Shastri said. “I was commentating on that game when he played and he is still around. He broke into being one of the top two or three players and he never got out of that. There might have been a one year or a six-month period where his form might have dipped. But otherwise, for sheer consistency, he is unmatched.
“There are very few players who fall in that list. You can bring Sachin Tendulkar in that league as the kind of player that once broke into the top two or three never moved out of there. Sangakkara’s record shows you that. He has got runs world over and scored double hundreds like it is a pastime. He is equal with Sir Donald Bradman. We love Sanga for the way he has entertained and he has been a fantastic ambassador for the game of cricket. That is a legacy that he will leave behind. I think every Sri Lankan should be proud of what he has achieved not just personally but the way he has conducted himself in going round the world as an international cricketer. You can call him as one of the statesmen of the modern game,” Shastri said.
“His ability to adapt and concentrate and his ability to bat for long periods of time. He had a wide range of shots, understood his game well and obviously worked as hard as any you would get. Also, his simple ability to assess the conditions very quickly, be it England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies or Colombo made him very special,” Shastri added.
Shastri was also of the view that two stalwarts of Sri Lanka cricket - Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene deserved a lot more accolades than they got. “I don’t think both Sanga and Mahela have got the accolades they should have got. If both of them were playing for India, they would have been on top of a tree or put up on top of a tree,” he said.
Rohit Sharma, India’s top order batsman, joined in saluting Sangakkara on the eve of his retirement. “He has been a stalwart of the game and played this game in true spirit. I was fortunate enough to watch him play closely many a times in my career. I would just like to wish him all the very best,” Sharma said.
