Kumar Sangakkara: Nasser Hussain hails retiring Sri Lanka great
'Surrey's players should pick Sanga's brains during his Oval stint'
Tuesday 25 August 2015 09:26, UK
134 Tests, 404 one-day internationals, 56 T20 internationals, around 30,000 runs for his country in all formats, averaging nearly 58 in Test cricket – Kumar Sangakkara is a phenomenon.
He played very well right to the end, so well in fact that some people have suggested he should carry on, and he is going out right on the top of his game and as a great of world cricket.
Kumar was hungry for runs, loved winning for Sri Lankan cricket and in the big moments in the big games, he generally delivered.
His best mate, Mahela Jayawardene, was a very naturally gifted player who'd pick up a bat on the morning of a game and not overthink or over-tinker.
Kumar, though, was more of a workaholic who constantly looked at and reviewed his game.
Kumar is a great student of cricket, knowing and appreciating the history of the game, but he was always looking forward and at how to reinvent his game in the T20 era.
You speak to anyone who has ever worked with Kumar and seen him day in, day out, whether it be Tom Moody or Paul Farbrace, and they will tell you that he never left anything to chance.
Kumar was probably a bit feistier than Mahela, too.
There were plenty of times when he was keeping wicket and gave good chirps, reminding me when I was going through lean patches and telling me it was my last game for England as a ball from Muttiah Muralitharan was halfway down the track!
His wicketkeeping made his batting achievements even more special; keeping wicket at home in Sri Lanka, dealing with the heat and humidity for five days of a Test match and then coming in to bat at No 3 like he did was unbelievable.
Kumar is a great student of cricket, knowing and appreciating the history of the game, but he was always looking forward and at how to reinvent his game in the T20 era.
He was a very orthodox player but found new ways to score runs and he did it without thrashing like a Chris Gayle; he was a very sweet touch player who could punish you in any form of the game.
It was difficult trying to get Kumar out in Sri Lanka, though you sometimes felt he was vulnerable in England when the ball was moving around outside off stump.
That said, everyone struggles in England when it's nipping around and the thing with Kumar is that he would come over to county cricket and adapt to conditions.
He was always looking to improve and never rested on his laurels.
I'd encourage any young London lad to get down to The Oval to watch him play at the back end of this season and next – and every guy in that Surrey dressing room to pick his brains and ask him questions.
I was very fortunate at Essex to play with some wonderful overseas players like Mark Waugh and Allan Border and I always looked at the way they did things.
I'm sure guys like Jason Roy will do the same and Kumar will definitely have time for them – he's a great who doesn't tell you he's a great and someone who will always give back.
