Underrated or Overrated?

[Dhondy]

Kumar Sangakkara has played 71 Tests, about the same as Mohammad Yousuf and averages 56.37, better than the great Pakistani batsman. What's even more stunning is that he is the only batsman currently playing the game, who does not average below 40 against any Test playing nation. In Australia, he averages 65. Today, he put Brett Lee in place, albeit in an ODI match, with a series of audacious pull shots played on a pitch where others struggled with their strokeplay. It was breathtaking batting from a man at the top of his game. Shame it lasted for only 41 deliveries. At a similar stage of his career, Tendulkar averaged 56.68, but Sangakkara has scored over 400 more runs and scaled unprecedented heights in the ICC rankings. The man doesn't seem to have a weak spot in his CV. When do people start talking about him in the same breath as the Pontings and the Tendulkars?

[fineleg]

The man doesn't seem to have a weak spot in his CV. When do people start talking about him in the same breath as the Pontings and the Tendulkars?

after ppl get over the SRT is God mentality! :giggle:

[MundaPakistani]

oh and he is quality keeper as well how ever it needs to be said that a lot of his runs have come against BAN. I remember before the series against BAN his average was around 49-50 and after only 3 test matches it went up to 55-56.

[Ram]

Kumar Sangakkara's record in the last 3 years, when he has been his most prolific, 2004-2007 38 63 5 3746 287 64.58 6244 59.99 He had just 4 100s from his first 33 tests, but has 12 in his last 38, when his career records have really skyrocketed. The thing with Kumar is, unlike a Sachin or a Lara, he has never been the best batsman of his team from the time he made his debut. Yes, he had a decent start, but definitely nothing remarkable. For such batsman who arent "marked" for greatness as such, it takes atleast 4-5 years excellent performance to cement his name as a great. Dravid had 4 consecutive seasons of brilliant consistency from 99 to 2004 after which people really started taking note of him, so it was the with Ponting, who has been amazingly consistent since 2002. Sangakkara needs another 2 years of this same level of performance for him to be bracketed alongside Sachin, Lara, Ponting,Kallis, Yousuf etc. He's not yet there, but boy he is damn close to it.

[Dhondy]

oh and he is quality keeper as well how ever it needs to be said that a lot of his runs have come against BAN. I remember before the series against BAN his average was around 49-50 and after only 3 test matches it went up to 55-56.

Averages 88 against BD to Yousuf's 250.

[MundaPakistani]

Averages 88 against BD to Yousuf's 250.

I wasn't comparing the 2 but now since you mentioned i would like to point out something very important Sanga has played 18 out his 71 games against BAN/ZIM while Yousuf has played only 11 out of 79 having said that i still rate Sanga as a better bat.

[Sachinism]

if you visited a SL cricket fan board, then you would have rated as highly as anyone i guess everyone on here is just gonna be a bit biased towards indians

[SachDan]

after ppl get over the SRT is God mentality! :giggle:

thats not going to happen for sure! He will remain as the God of cricket for ever.

[Anakin]

Kumar Sangakkara has played 71 Tests, about the same as Mohammad Yousuf and averages 56.37, better than the great Pakistani batsman. What's even more stunning is that he is the only batsman currently playing the game, who does not average below 40 against any Test playing nation. In Australia, he averages 65. Today, he put Brett Lee in place, albeit in an ODI match, with a series of audacious pull shots played on a pitch where others struggled with their strokeplay. It was breathtaking batting from a man at the top of his game. Shame it lasted for only 41 deliveries. At a similar stage of his career, Tendulkar averaged 56.68, but Sangakkara has scored over 400 more runs and scaled unprecedented heights in the ICC rankings. The man doesn't seem to have a weak spot in his CV. When do people start talking about him in the same breath as the Pontings and the Tendulkars?

Probably because at the similar stage of their career, SRT faced far better bowlers than Sanga has done or probably will ever face.

[Anakin]

How many batsmen had 50+ avg throughout 90s? Every avg batsman nowadays has 50+ avg. Not taking anything away from Sanga though, just answering a pretty obvious question. I only watch him batting now when SL is batting, used to be Sanath and Aravinda before.

[Predator_05]

He is pure class. The most important factor for me is the manner in which he scores those runs - he is not afraid to attack, plays shots with such fluidity and makes batting look so easy. He is currently at his peak, knows his own game inside out and has tons of confidence; that is why he is very good to watch. Easily SL's greatest batsman of all time. In the grand scheme of things, he probably fits in the 2nd tier of all time great batsmen. By the time he has finished, he would have amassed enough runs to be rated ahead of Gilchrist. Unfortunately for him, he was born a Sri Lankan, not Indian or Aussie so he won't get the recognition he deserves. That is the impression i get when i notice how his name hardly ever gets a mention on these forums and elsewhere...

[beetle]

>>>>Unfortunately for him, he was born a Sri Lankan, not Indian or Aussie so he won't get the recognition he deserves. That is the impression i get when i notice how his name hardly ever gets a mention on these forums and elsewhere... true.....

[Bumper]

Good observation Dhondy. Something i had always wondered about, since i saw him in the world cup finals & subsequently in the SL-Aus series Down Under, when he was the lone SL batsmen to take the fight to the Aussies. To be talked of as a great, he needs to do, what he has done for a bit longer (3-4 more years). Going by history, purple patches of batsmen are typically offset by, form slumps later on, in their careers, at which time most of their great numbers will turn average. Sanga is a bit of a home bully at the moment. Except agaisnt Australia, he averages over 50 (infact over 60) against every opponent at home. I'd like to see him improve his away average. He averages 30 in Eng, 24 in India and 39 in SA (perhaps ok considering conditions in SA). The diff in his home & away averages is hard to overlook.

[King]

Sanga is very under rated and that is because he's from Sri Lanka. If he were from Australia or India he would have been hyped to the extent there's never been a better batsman than him. Sangka is a class player and way better Wickie than Gilly. I'm sure Sangaka will excel in the long run too and won't be surprising if he emerges the highest test runs scorer as a wicket keeper. I think people recognize he's top class but is never accorded the same glory as some of the better batsmen during this era.

[Guest dada_rocks]

When he hangs his boot by that time every person in his all time eleven will have him ahead of gilly as keeper batsman .. heck even as pure batsman he will be in the world eleven of everyone.

[Gambit]

He is pure class. The most important factor for me is the manner in which he scores those runs - he is not afraid to attack' date=' plays shots with such fluidity and makes batting look so easy. He is currently at his peak, knows his own game inside out and has tons of confidence; that is why he is very good to watch. [b']Easily SL's greatest batsman of all time. In the grand scheme of things, he probably fits in the 2nd tier of all time great batsmen. By the time he has finished, he would have amassed enough runs to be rated ahead of Gilchrist. Unfortunately for him, he was born a Sri Lankan, not Indian or Aussie so he won't get the recognition he deserves. That is the impression i get when i notice how his name hardly ever gets a mention on these forums and elsewhere...

Seriously? IMO Aravinda is still ahead.

[Predator_05]

Seriously? IMO Aravinda is still ahead.

Not much in it to be honest - it's just a matter of opinion. I've seen ADS play some great knocks, ie; the dazzling 152 at the Oval in 1998 (the test in which Murali took 9/65). He scored against the best bowlers of his era, but he ended up with fewer runs 'cos SL were an average test team at best and they didn't have the batsmen to support him. I can recall how good he was on the SA tour in '98. He was in devastating form - at his peak - but couldn't score big 'cos the rest of the team failed to build partnerships with him. There was this test in which SL took a 100 run lead going into their 2nd innings, and with the match in their control, they crumbed for 120 odd. Aravinda was scoring runs but the others just kept falling one by one and SA eventually chased an easy total in the 4th innings to win the test. Sangakkara doesn't have that disadvantage 'cos he plays in a stronger batting lineup but i am really impressed by the way he just carries on and on. He is a more dominant batsman; all the massive hundreds he has scored are proof of that. I reckon he will end up with a lot more runs, doing justice to his talent in a way ADS never did, and the fatter average will solidify his case for being the best SL batsman ever.