Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka captain, on Monday (May 22), announced he will retire from first-class cricket at the end of the ongoing English county season.
The 39-year old left-handed batsman, who is plying his trade for Surrey, recently became the first player from his country to cross the 20,000-run mark in first-class cricket during the match against Middlesex where he hit twin centuries.
The second century of the match also saw Sangakkara become the first Surrey batsman to score twin hundreds in a Championship match since Arun Harinath achieved the feat in 2015.
Sangakkara has now scored 20,012 runs in 254 first-class matches at an average 51.18 with the help of 60 centuries and 85 half-centuries. The former captain’s last assignment as a batsman will be the Caribbean Premier League.
“You try to fight the inevitable but you need to get out while you’re ahead,” he told BBC Sport. “It’s the last time I’ll play a four-day game here [at Lord’s]. I’ll be 40 in a few months, this is about the end of my time in county cricket.”
In the ongoing county season, he has already amassed 592 runs in just four games including four centuries and one half-century but despite showing no signs of slowing down with the bat, the former international cricketer is eager to bring down curtains on his illustrious career.
“The biggest mistake that sometimes you can make is that you think you’re better than you really are,” he said. “Cricketers, or any sort of sportsperson, have an expiry date and you need to walk away. I have been very lucky to play for as long as I did so but there’s a lot more life to be lived away from the game.”
Sangakkara, who has previously played for Warwickshire and Durham, said he “thoroughly enjoyed” his stint with Surrey and called it “a wonderful club to play for”. Sangakkara recently had a portrait of himself unveiled at the Lord’s pavilion along with former Sri Lanka teammate Mahela Jayawardene.
His international career, which spanned a staggering 134 Tests, 404 ODIs and 56 T20Is, came to an end in 2015. He had made his Sri Lanka debut in an ODI match against Pakistan on 5 July 2000 before playing his first Test 15 days later.
He finished his Test career with 12,400 runs while amassed he 14,234 runs and 1,382 runs in the ODIs and T20Is, respectively.