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           They say – “It’s a heaven’s paradise”. The beauty, a picturesque well portrayed by the mighty God himself with a mix of serene oceanic water, luxuriant woods and a plethora of beaches, which is widespread all over the tiny island, or to be precise, over an archipelago, is one of the best things that God has bestowed on Sri Lanka; and no wonder why it is called the cynosure of all eyes.

Perhaps, this is the very beauty that has given birth to the new version of cricket where we see a score of people playing cricket in the churning sand scattered all over the beaches. And who knows, maybe the likes of Arjuna Ranatunga, Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda De Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, etc. might have started batting there only before truly realizing their potential and deciding to commence their as proven out to be all promising careers.

It’s really quite astonishing to see a cluster of small islands like Sri Lanka can produce such a talent every now and then; and moreover, a few innovative shots that we see today are no doubt, to some extent, borne from Sri Lankan batsmen only. An upper square cut for 6 by Jayasuriya, a flick of the wrist over an on-side, an elegant glance towards a gully & a classy cover drive for 4 by Jayawardene & a scoop shot (better known as “Dilscoop”) for 6 over the keeper’s head by Dilshan; these are nothing but the epitomes of what a surplus of talent Sri Lanka has given to the gentleman’s game.     

However; if you have noticed, there is an important name missing in the above list. Yes, I am talking about Mr. Sangakkara, better known as “Sanga“, perhaps whose name I missed deliberately.

Yes, deliberately! Because I find his class a way different and better than that of all batsmen as mentioned earlier. Look at his stance when he bats, look at the way he pushes a ball to the boundary and look at the way he takes those spectacular catches behind the wicket, I mean, elegance is all over there. Also, when he plays that splendid straight drive or a lofty shot over the bowler’s head, it adds more beauty; or to be precise more class to the game. And don’t forget his ambidexterity to play all types of shots to both on-side and off-side.

However; when you talk about Sanga, it’s not all about shots or class. There is one more thing where he surfeits even master blaster Sachin Tendulkar as well. Sangakkara knows pretty well how to stabilize a precarious stumbling inning; he knows how to spend a quantitative quality time at the crease which I would say even Sachin wasn’t able to do mostly throughout his career. In fact, it became quite common for our eyes and Sri Lankan team to see whenever his team required a partnership, he used to sail his team through. Even when wickets start to tumble from one end, this wall of Sri Lanka won’t falter easily; and it has to be either a magic ball of a bowler or a meticulous planning from the opponent’s team to earn his wicket. We will never forget the unprecedented record holding partnership that he put on with Mahela Jayawardene for 624 runs against South Africa, in the year 2006, where his individual score stood at 287. That was really an eye catching inning in itself, especially if you cherish a virtuous class of batting, juxtaposed with a lot of patience, associated with the Test Cricket.

But, it’s not only his on-the-field stature that I am immensely impressed about. Look at his track record. You would hardly find anything that he missed on to achieve. But even after having such an illustrious career, he is still a down-to-earth guy. And that’s not all. His modest demeanor and the equanimity showed on both on-the-field and off-the-field are one of those examples mostly given to new generation players whenever these young blooded seem to get carried away and try to get entangled in the chaos.

Unfortunately, Mr. Kumar Sangakkara has retired from all forms of cricket. We may not see him at the cricket ground anymore. Also, the type of class that he has and the kind of legacy that he has given to cricket over a decade, I am dubious whether there will be anyone from this generation who can carry it forward or not. Perhaps, no one else is that capable of taking it forward. But still, keeping that thing aside, we all know that - “Legends don’t die”. And yes, Mr. Sanga, who is no exception to this, a legend per se, will always be there, safe in the hearts of millions of cricket fans rather than being just in the annals of cricket history.

But still, as a human being, at least I am bound to have feelings and emotions; and there is no doubt that Sangakkara’s departure will definitely invoke them and surely force me to miss the physical existence of his immortal class.


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