Kumar Sangakkara names the toughest bowler he ever faced

Former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara continues to entertain the fans with his performances in the T20 leagues around the world. The veteran southpaw retired from all forms of the game last year. But he continued to ply his trade in the T20 leagues like the BPL, BBL and the MCL. Needless to say, there was no dip in his performance charts. Having served Sri Lankan cricket for close to a decade and a half, Sangakkara represented the national side in 594 international games across the three formats. He was known to be an absolute tormentor of the bowlers.

Reflecting back at his playing days, Kumar Sangakkara recently quoted the toughest bowlers he has ever faced. As per the quotes in cricket.com.au, the former Sri Lankan skipper rates Wasim Akram as the toughest bowler he has ever faced. He noted that it is unfortunate that Akram is not among the top in the list of leading wicket-takers. In the 9 matches that the two faced each other, Akram dismissed Sangakkara thrice. He was dismissed on 10, 5 and 0 by Akram in three matches in 2002.

“I think I’ve faced Wasim Akram only a few times (but he was) immensely difficult. It’s strange you know, when you pick your bowlers or the people think, if you take Akram on the Test wicket tally, he’s nowhere near the top. He’s 12th, but you ask any batsman around the world and his name always comes up. He was an absolute genius,” quoted Kumar Sangakkara.

He further named former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan, former English spinner Graeme Swann to be tough prospects as well along with former Aussie cricketer Shane Warne. He mentioned that he was lucky to have not faced Muttiah Muralitharan in an international game.

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“I’ve never faced Murali, luckily, in international cricket, or Chaminda Vaas. Shane Warne, incredibly difficult. I’ve had problems with Zaheer Khan. Graeme Swann. These bowlers have been very, very difficult. Even though Jimmy Anderson has probably got me out many times more, I would rate the others as people I really worried about,” said Sangakkara.

Talking about the batsmen, the former skipper noted the names of Sir Viv Richards and Brian Lara to be his favorite batsmen. He, however, added that former Sri Lankan batsman Aravinda de Silva was a master class. But, he was unlucky to have missed out on the popularity that he deserved.

“Sir Vivian Richards when I was growing up, then along comes Brian Lara. Watching Brian bat was an absolute privilege. Aravinda de Silva, he was incredible to watch. If he had been born a few years later he might not have had a World Cup but we would have had a guy who would have been in the top five all-time batsmen list, easy,” conceded Kumar Sangakkara.