Kumar Sangakkara, the leading run-scorer for Sri Lanka in Test cricket, is also the second Sri Lankan cricketer to aggregate 10000+ runs in the longest format, after Sanath Jayasuriya.
He is also the second-fastest to 10000 runs in Test cricket along with the Indian master batsman, Sachin Tendulkar. Both these batters took 196 innings to reach the 10K runs mark in Test cricket.
The wicketkeeper-batsman is also the only Sri Lankan player to have a 50+ average in Test cricket for anyone above 1000 Test runs. Find out what Angelo Matthews, a fellow Sri Lankan cricketer, has to say about Sangakkara’s contribution to Sri Lankan cricket.
He is also one of the seven cricketers in the history of Test cricket to score 7 consecutive Test fifties.
This article will further dissect Kumar Sangakkara’s career by posting his Test batting numbers against each opponent country.
Kumar Sangakkara - Test Runs Against Each Country
OPPONENT | RUNS | INNINGS | AVERAGE | HIGH SCORE | CENTURIES |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 878 | 21 | 43.90 | 192 | 1 |
Bangladesh | 1816 | 21 | 95.58 | 319 | 7 |
England | 1568 | 40 | 40.21 | 152 | 3 |
India | 1352 | 28 | 52.00 | 219 | 5 |
New Zealand | 887 | 21 | 49.28 | 203 | 4 |
Pakistan | 2911 | 45 | 74.64 | 230 | 10 |
South Africa | 1534 | 32 | 47.94 | 287 | 3 |
West Indies | 918 | 19 | 54.00 | 157* | 3 |
Zimbabwe | 536 | 6 | 89.33 | 270 | 2 |
TOTAL | 12400 | 233 | 57.41 | 319 | 38 |
Key Stats
Sangakkara averaged more than 40 against every country he played Test cricket with, with the least being versus England – 40.21.
In terms of consistency, his favorite opponent seemed to be Bangladesh, against which he scored 1816 runs in just 21 innings, averaging 95.58.
However, a big chunk of his total runs came against Pakistan. He has 2911 runs vs Pakistan, including 10 centuries and 12 fifties – the best compared to his other opponents.
Kumar Sangakkara, who has the second-most double centuries is Tests, also has double centuries against 6 out of 9 countries he played against. Only Virat Kohli has scored double centuries against as many teams in Test cricket history, and he has played against 7 teams.