Gollum Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 Kumar Sangakkara is expected to call time on his international career after three further matches - the last of which will be the first Test against India. The timing of his retirement will be finalised on Tuesday in a meeting with the national selectors, but Sangakkara has already informed the board that he will only play the first two Tests against Pakistan and one against India, as he juggles the tail-end of his international career with his commitment to county side Surrey. This means Sangakkara is unlikely to play international cricket again in his hometown of Kandy, though he did have an unofficial farewell in Pallekele in December. The first two Tests against Pakistan are scheduled for Galle and Colombo, and the first Test against India is presently set for Galle - though the venues for that tour have not been formally announced. There appears a chance his farewell Test could be moved to Kandy, but with preparations already having begun for a major celebration in the south, Sangakkara will likely end his international career at the site of his debut - in Galle. Sangakkara had originally intended to retire from all formats following the World Cup, but was convinced to stay on for two more series by the former selectors and captain Angelo Mathews, among others. The present selectors had also hoped to convince the batsman to play all six Tests against Pakistan and India, but Sangakkara had remained firm in his decision to step away. Surrey's schedule also played a role in limiting the number of Tests Sangakkara would play in these series. With 12,203 Test runs, 38 Test hundreds and an average of 58.66, Sangakkara will retire as Sri Lanka's most successful Test batsman, and will likely stay fifth on the overall run-tally. Having hit a double ton in January this year, he is also only one short of Donald Bradman's record double century count of 12. Sangakkara was the fastest batsman to 8000, 9000, 10,000 (joint fastest with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara), 11,000 and 12,000 Test runs, in terms of innings played, and presently the top-ranked Test batsman in the world. The latest unconfirmed schedule for the India series has Sangakkara's farewell match beginning on August 18. He is expected to play for Surrey in between the second Pakistan Test and the first game against India. :hatsoff: Very surprising to see someone retire at the peak of his powers. The way Sanga has been playing for the last few years, one would have expected him to hang on till 40 and smash every record in the cricketing book. One of the ATGs and among the top 3 batsmen Asia has produced till date. Al hail the Kandyan King !!! Another Lankan legend Murali retired after the 1st test against India in the 2010 series. We gifted him 8 wickets and pushed him to the 800 wickets mark. I may not have endorsed Sanga's attitude on/off the field but boy what a gem of a player he has been, can't imagine Lanka without Sanga. :((
Debutant Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 More Tests :wall: Why is India playing so many Tests. :wall:
Gollum Posted June 14, 2015 Author Posted June 14, 2015 More Tests :wall: Why is India playing so many Tests. :wall: We play the test matches in August buddy, there won't be any rain in Lanka then. And we haven't won a series there since 1993, this one will be fun to watch.
Debutant Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 We play the test matches in August buddy' date=' there won't be any rain in Lanka then. And we haven't won a series there since 1993, this one will be fun to watch.[/quote'] Test matches and fun :headshake: Good test matches are rare. For every exciting test match we have to tolerate atleast 20 really boring draws or one sided matches. I agree some are really exciting like the one against SA where Tendu exhibited a masterclass against a rampaging Styne or the one between NZ and England recently. Problem is they are rare and against a team like SL, it is gonna be a borefest
thongale Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 Test matches and fun :headshake: Good test matches are rare. For every exciting test match we have to tolerate atleast 20 really boring draws or one sided matches. I agree some are really exciting like the one against SA where Tendu exhibited a masterclass against a rampaging Styne or the one between NZ and England recently. Problem is they are rare and against a team like SL' date=' it is gonna be a borefest [/quote']Most of the SL-IND series in SL were very interesting. Most of the time it was 2-1 for SL or 1-1 draws. Haven't got a single 0-0 results in past 20 years.
Gollum Posted June 14, 2015 Author Posted June 14, 2015 Most of the SL-IND series in SL were very interesting. Most of the time it was 2-1 for SL or 1-1 draws. Haven't got a single 0-0 results in past 20 years. +1 People think India-Lanka matches are boring but somehow I find the tests between our nations very interesting, both in Lanka and India. I think almost always 2 out of 3 matches produce results.
kosingh Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 As long as SL has learnt to make competitive declarations.
G_B_ Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 As much as i respect Sanga, whats with this play 2 tests v Pakistan and 1 test v India? Either play both series or retire. He has basically put Surrey at the same pedestal as Sri Lanka. I am sure Surrey can wait one season. Very disappointed in him. Should have stuck with his quit after the WC plan IMO. Better than this pick and choose retirement.
sensible-indian Posted June 14, 2015 Posted June 14, 2015 As much as i respect Sanga, whats with this play 2 tests v Pakistan and 1 test v India? Either play both series or retire. He has basically put Surrey at the same pedestal as Sri Lanka. I am sure Surrey can wait one season. Very disappointed in him. Should have stuck with his quit after the WC plan IMO. Better than this pick and choose retirement. SL made him delay the decision I heard.
The Realist Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 Is he going to retire that annoying fake accent he put on as well? That would be worth celebrating
putrevus Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 Unlike other batsman who just hung on to get some meaningless record, this guy is going out as no1 batsman. Players and fans should stop their obsession about personal records and focus should be more about team results. Sanga is ATG batsman who is very underrated, if he played for any bigger teams he would have been placed on different pedestal.I am not fan of some of his antics but world cricket will surely miss one of the greatest ever to have graced the sport.
diga Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 Unlike other batsman who just hung to get some meaningless record, this guy is going out as no1 batsman. Players and fans should stop their obsession about personal records and focus should be more about team results. Sanga is ATG batsman who is very underrated, if he played for any bigger teams he would have been placed on different pedestal.I am not fan of some of his antics but world cricket will surely miss one of the greatest ever to have graced the sport. +1... Sanga had great determination to succeed,but he was stuck with a mediocre team. May not have been the greatest batsman, but surely one of the greats of his generation
HippoSucks Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 Unlike other batsman who just hung on to get some meaningless record, this guy is going out as no1 batsman. Players and fans should stop their obsession about personal records and focus should be more about team results. Sanga is ATG batsman who is very underrated, if he played for any bigger teams he would have been placed on different pedestal.I am not fan of some of his antics but world cricket will surely miss one of the greatest ever to have graced the sport. I hate statements like "Sangakarra is underrated" or "he would be rated highest if he played for one of the big 3 teams"... How many greats from, for example, England have been hyped as much as Sangakarra from the past few years? Sangakarra is an ATG and one of the greatest batsman of this era, but he's rated fine. I've rarely seen anyone underrate him. If anything he's overrated by some people who compare him to Ponting, Sachin, Richards etc.
Gollum Posted June 28, 2015 Author Posted June 28, 2015 Sangakkara confirms international retirement Kumar Sangakkara confirmed he will retire from international cricket after the second Test of Sri Lanka's forthcoming series against India, calling time on one of the most successful careers in modern cricket. Sangakkara will not play the third Test in the ongoing series against Pakistan, choosing instead to play for county side Surrey, before returning to Sri Lanka ahead of the first Test against India. Read more at http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-pakistan-2015/content/story/891861.html
Gollum Posted June 28, 2015 Author Posted June 28, 2015 No sense in extending my career for a year - Sangakkara What a selfless cricketer !!!! A lesson to all our rockstars, don't play for milestones like your predecessors, play for your country. But have to say Rahane, Vijay, Kohli,Ashwin are better in this aspect than most of our ex cricketers. http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/891917.html
moniker Posted June 28, 2015 Posted June 28, 2015 Now I have seen it all! I know of players picking and choosing series, which were kind of ok if the reason given was burn out, but picking and choosing individual test matches within a series is ridiculous. Commitment my ass, why would he not play for his country and instead play for a county if he was so committed?
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