KUMAR Sangakkara is one of the best batsmen in the history of cricket. He could have played for any Twenty20 team in the world. He tells sports reporter ADAM SMITH why he wants to play in Tasmania with the Hobart Hurricanes.
It isn’t hard to see why Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara is so widely admired across the cricketing globe.
Considered one of the greatest batsman of all time — and with a record to prove it — Sangakkara’s humility is what sets him apart.
He is the second leading international run scorer of all time behind Sachin Tendulkar, became the first player to score four consecutive ODI centuries during the recent World Cup and has been mentioned in the same breath as Adam Gilchrist as one of the best keeper-batsmen the game has seen.
He is the top ranked Test batsman in the world and earlier this year was named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for a second time, just the second player to achieve the feat.
Yet you will never see the 37-year-old puff his chest out or drop a controversial comment in a press conference to create headlines.
This is why the Hobart Hurricanes have pulled off arguably the biggest signing in Big Bash League history by securing the gifted and elegant left-hander on a two-year deal.
Sangakkara will bring his wife Yehali and twins Kavith and Swyree with him to a state with which he has fallen in love.
Personal achievements aside — his highest Test score in Australia of 192 was at Blundstone Arena and he has also scored two centuries and a 50 in five ODI innings at the venue — Sangakkara said it was what Tasmania had to offer and the Hurricanes set-up, which felt like the perfect fit over any other franchise.
“It’s very exciting, I’ve watched the Big Bash, I think it is a great tournament and a great product, some very high-quality teams,” he said.
“I’ve watched the Hobart Hurricanes play as well and they have been one of the most competitive and best performing sides in the tournament.
“It is fantastic to be able to get into the Big Bash and a side like the Hurricanes.
“I like Tasmania as a destination, it is somewhere my family and I have really enjoyed travelling to.
“My family travel with me everywhere and Tasmania has been one of the pleasant places to go to, great food, great wine, very friendly people and it is beautiful.
“It can get a bit cold at times but apart from that it has been outstanding.
“Down by the water, there are so many different kinds of experiences to be had and my kids especially have really enjoyed it.
“When you consider all these factors and the quality of the team, it wasn’t very hard to make a decision to join the Hurricanes.”
Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne were massive crowd pullers for the Melbourne Stars, South African Jacques Kallis was a hit for Sydney Thunder, Andrew Flintoff was popular in Brisbane while Chris Gayle also graced the field for the Thunder for the first two instalments of the BBL.
But Kallis aside, the other three are pure “showmen” who feed off being in the spotlight.
Sangakkara is as down to earth as they come, a humble family man who may not be as flamboyant as the traditional Twenty20 player but is equally as effective.
“I got some feedback on Twitter and I followed it a bit and saw it became news as such, I was very flattered,” Sangakkara replied when asked if he was aware how big the announcement of his signing was in Australia earlier this week.
“I think the term they use on Twitter is trending, it was quite flattering that, at this latter stage of my career, you can garner that kind of support.
“I was very, very flattered that it did create a bit of a buzz and positive buzz at that.”
Highlighting Sangakkara’s standing as a true gentleman off the field is his involvement in charity work, which began following the 2004 Asian tsunami on Boxing Day.
After leaving a tour of New Zealand to return home, he joined teammates Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan to travel around the island offering whatever support they could.
The tsunami was Sangakkara’s first major interaction with Murali’s charity, the Foundation of Goodness, and he has since become a member of the Think Wise initiative, a partnership between the ICC, UNICEF and UNAIDS that uses the power and reach of cricket to raise awareness about HIV prevention and to eliminate discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.
Having retired from ODI cricket following Sri Lanka’s quarter-final exit to South Africa, Sangakkara will play in his country’s home three-Test series against Pakistan in June-July before signing off on his stellar international career.
It will mean the Hurricanes have their prized signing for all eight games.
Sangakkara wants to complete his law degree after his retirement as a professional cricketer.
