I recently wrote about a few amazing debut innings, elevating Messrs Dhawan and Rutherford to the top of the talking-point table. However, almost slipping under the radar has been the restoration of Kumar Sangakkara's batting form. Three hundreds and three half-centuries in his last four Tests tell the story. OK, so the highest scores have come in the home series against Bangladesh but Sanga still had to apply himself and build an innings, and that's just what he did.
With 200 Test innings, and more than 10,000 runs under his belt, Sangakkara's performances in the current series have boosted his career average to a shade under 57, higher than everyone else still playing and who has notched more than 20 Test innings. Sachin Tendulkar's recent travails have dropped his average below 55, leaving Jacques Kallis as the Sri Lankan's closest rival, on 56.10. A number of players are creeping up the table into the 50s, including Michael Clarke, Hashim Amla, Jonathan Trott and, most recently, another wicketkeeper, AB De Villiers. However, they will need to string together some amazing innings, preferably peppered with asterisks, to approach the high 50s within the next few years.
Not surprisingly, most of Sangakkara's runs - and matches - have come on Sri Lankan pitches, on which he averages more than 63. Curiously, apart from Zimbabwe, he averages the highest - 87 - in Pakistan. Indeed, that opposition, home and away, has been his favourite over the thirteen-year career, producing 2320 runs in 16 Tests at more than 89 apiece! Only against England has his average fallen below 40. Until last summer, England had also been Kallis' bete noire but he put that right handsomely. Perhaps Sanga should relish the chance to do the same when Sri Lanka next tour Europe in 2014.
When he kept wicket for his country, Sangakkara averaged barely 40 with the bat. In the five years since handing the gloves to team-mates, that figures has rocketed to 69. Captaincy didn't harm his statistics either. In 2009-11 he led Sri Lanka 15 times, eleven at home, the rest in India and England, averaging almost 70. When yo think of number three batsmen, the likes of Dravid, Ponting and Lara readily spring to mind but the figures show that Kumar Sangakkara is one of the most successful number threes in my lifetime, and he clearly isn't finished yet.
