Kumar Sangakkara, the second most prolific scorer the format has ever seen, will play his 400th one-day international at the MCG on Thursday when Sri Lanka does battle with Bangladesh.
The mighty milestone may be the last Melbourne – and its large cricket-crazy Sri Lankan community – sees of the gifted left-handed batsman-wicketkeeper, who is clearly the greatest player his country has produced across all formats.
Sangakkara is 37 and has announced he will retire after the World Cup, saying if he is not going to be around for the next one “all I’ll be doing is taking the spot of another player, and there is no point.”
His Test future is less clear-cut but he has said he does not see himself playing beyond another series or two, even though he remains in magnificent form, having recently struck his 11th double-century to move to within one of Don Bradman’s record.
It seems to have become the accepted wisdom that South Africa’s AB de Villiers is the world’s best cricketer right now, but Sangakkara’s staggering statistics constitute a strong case that he is.
In the ICC rankings, it’s Sangakkara one and de Villiers two in Test cricket and de Villiers one and Sangakkara four in one-dayers.
We could fill a page with Sangakkara’s numbers and awards, but suffice to say his 399 one-dayers have yielded 13,739 runs at 40.88 with 21 hundreds, second only to Indian immortal Sachin Tendulkar’s 18,426 at 44.83 from 64 more matches.
His 130 Tests have produced 12,203 runs at 58.66 with 38 hundreds. Only Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid have scored more, all from at least 34 more matches and at an inferior average.
Not only is he an all-time great player, he has earned a reputation as an eloquent, courageous thinker and speaker, largely through his famous Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s in 2011.
Hailed as a masterpiece of oratory and described as “the most important speech in cricket history,” the address ruffled plenty of feathers by pointing out how off-field turmoil and corruption had hindered development of the game at home.
He continues to speak out when he sees the need. Not surprisingly, the fans love him.
When the Cricinfo website recently published an erudite tribute by Brisbane-based writer and poet Janaka Malwatta, somebody called Gularan posted this comment: “Sanga the cricket maestro, Sanga the silver-tongued orator, Sanga the gentleman and the street fighter, Sanga the generous philanthropist – Sanga the near perfect human being, a once in a lifetime phenomenon we have been privileged to encounter and enjoy …”
Sangakkara has yet to make a major impact on this World Cup, scoring 39 in the defeat by New Zealand – which took him past Ponting on the all-time list – and seven in the win over Afghanistan, both in New Zealand. He will be keen to rectify that.
He was captain when Sri Lanka lost the final of the last World Cup to India, stepping down immediately afterwards.
Melbourne is one of the few places yet to see him in full flight.
In his only MCG Test in 2012 he got 58 and 27 not out and in six one-dayers and another four at Etihad Stadium he has a best of 64 at each venue.
Just as was the case with India last Sunday, the crowd on Thursday is likely to be overwhelmingly supportive of the Lankans and with Bangladesh living down to its minnow status, the stage is perfectly set for Sangakkara to produce something special – as he has done more often than any other Sri Lankan cricketer.
