Kumar Sangakkara has named former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan among the two toughest bowlers he has ever faced in his international career apart from Pakistan great Wasim Akram.
Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who was wicket-keeper and is the second-highest run-getter of all time in ODIs, and sixth-highest in Tests has faced some of the finest fast bowlers ranging from Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath, Dale Steyn and Zaheer Khan but when it came to naming the toughest among them, he has named Zaheer Khan and Wasim Akram.
Kumar Sangakkara Says Facing Wasim Akram Nightmare And Zaheer Khan Extremely Difficult
The left-hander is only behind legendary Sachin Tendulkar in times of overall runs in one-day internationals and has enjoyed battles with some of the best bowlers of his generation, and calls Wasim Akram a nightmare to face and Zaheer extremely difficult to handle.
“Wasim Akram was a nightmare to face. Zaheer Khan, I faced many times and was extremely difficult also,” Sangakkara told Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)’s official website.
Zaheer Khan and Kumar Sangakkara faced each other on many occasions including the 2011 World Cup final where India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the trophy after 28 years.
Kumar Sangakkara Says Viv Richards Best Until Brian Lara Arrived
Kumar Sangakkara played against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting but named two West Indian greats as his favourite. Viv Richards who was used to be his favourite until Brian Lara arrived at the scene and established himself as one of the greatest players ever.
“It was Sir Viv Richards up until Brian Lara came around – since then they shared an equal importance on my list,” said Sangakkara.
The former Sri Lankan skipper played 134 Tests accumulating 14,234 test runs and also in 404 ODIs he has totalled 12400 ODI runs. He has also featured in 56 T20Is in a career spanning 15 years. He has 678 dismissals to his name in 594 matches as wicketkeeper across all three formats combined.
Kumar Sangakkara has played in five seasons of the Indian Premier League. In 2008 and 2011 he was picked in the auction by Kings XI Punjab and by Deccan Chargers respectively. Later he was the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team. Kumar Sangakkara has scored 1,567 runs with 10 half-centuries in 62 matches in IPL.
Kumar Sangakkara was part of the team that made the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. He won the Man of the Match award in the final of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, where he helped the team win their first title.