What Sangakkara means to me

It still hasn't sunk in that Kumar Sangakkara is retiring. Well, it didn't until I saw this picture of him waving to the Galle crowd.

The photo was edited with Sangakkara in focus, while the rest of the team were blurred out in black and white. Behind him, Percy was waving the Sri Lankan flag (also in colour). Sanga's expression was one of content-- as if he was a man relieved of all responsibilities and happy with his decision to retire. 

When I saw the picture, all I could think was, "And then there was one!"

I started watching/ religiously following the game of cricket, from the 1999 World Cup in England-- just before Sangakkara debuted for Sri Lanka. Apart from Younis Khan of Pakistan, all the players whom I grew up watching and idolizing, have all retired.

It seems strange-- cricket is certainly not the same any more without them. I don't feel motivated enough to get up at 4 AM to watch the first ball of a Test match in Christchurch... I don't mind missing the odd game any more. (Of course, as an aspiring journalist, it has become harder to turn a blind eye, but if not for my job, I probably would).

For a while now, ‘Sanga’ and Younis have been the only strings that have tied me to the sport-- the only ones that have taken me back to a time when I watched my heroes play. Now, most of the players out there are my contemporaries-- I don't idolize them, I respect and admire them.

Okay, back to the point...

Sanga's retirement has only just begun to sink in and I feel, with him, much of the cricket watcher in me, retires too. The cricket addict I once was-- wanting to watch every single ball of every game because my heroes were out there-- has finally sobered.

I remember getting up early to watch Test matches in Australia and New Zealand, and staying up way past my bed time to catch the action in the Caribbean. 

Sanga's innings of 192 in Hobart, I still remember. Curled up on the armchair in the early morning darkness, under covers, watching him cut, pull and cover drive with abandon. It was one of his many innings that inspired me.

Plenty has been written about Sangakkara's achievements as a top-class cricketer. His contribution to his country and the sport in general, also well documented. So I suppose I needn't dwell too much on that.

So what did Kumar Sangakkara mean to me? 

He was the first cricketer, I remember, who had achieved as much in a classroom as a cricket field. He seemed the most well-read and articulate player I had ever come across. Like most good batsmen, he was a wonderful reader of the game. More than all that though, he was one of the unsung heroes of his team for the longest time. He quietly accumulated runs and broke more records than any of his teammates. He was an artist with the bat, but that's not how he inspired me.

Kumar Sangakkara was everything I wanted to be as a cricketer. Of course, halfway into my career, I have realized I will probably  never be even half as artistic a batsman as he was, but I still harbour hopes and dreams of being at least a quarter of the cricketer and leader he was.

Every time Sri Lanka was in a spot of bother, Sangakkara found a way to dig his team out of the hole. Every time Sri Lanka needed someone to bring a smile to the nation, he was there. Every time his country needed a spokesperson after a hard day, he was there.

'Eloquent'-- a word used often to describe Sangakkara. He was more than just a cricketer and a great orator. He made audiences and crowds fall in love with him through his silken strokes and intelligent words. He had the knack of making fans, viewers and probably even his teammates, feel secure every time he walked out to bat. In many ways, I suppose that is the biggest compliment you can give a batsman.

Sangakkara was a cricket superstar. He never threw any of those superstar-type tantrums though. He was exceptionally well behaved for a cricketer of his generation, but then again, I guess that is a Sri Lankan trait.

In many ways, Sangakkara was Sri Lanka’s Rahul Dravid—proof that nice guys can finish first too; proof that smart guys make wonderful sportspeople as well. 

Harsha Bhogle wrote an article about the islander in the Indian Express that said Sanga ‘batted like a lawyer’—he was elegant, but more than that, there was always a steely determination about him.

That was something about the man that really inspired me. He always tried to eke out the most from his ability. He improved everyday and he always found a way to score runs. While Mahela Jayawardene may have always looked elegant whether in ‘form’ or not, Sangakkara was not always so. There have been innings where he has struggled, but still managed to score runs—those are the innings that made me fall in love with him. Those almost Chris Rogers-type moments, when the game looks as hard as it can be, but you learn to fight through it and come out on top.

It was the nudger and nurdler in Sangakkara that spoke to me. Not as much the flowing cover driver. He became the best cricketer he could be. Like many others, he said talent is overrated. And he played with that ‘steely determination’ every time he walked out on that field.

To me, Kumar Sangakkara, will always be a hero. Not as a batsman; not as a wonderful ambassador of the sport, or his country; not as a leader either. He made me understand, that as easy as international cricketers make the game look, it is not always so, but if you put your head down and push through those phases, there’s a pretty good chance you will make it through the battle.