There is something about Sri Lankan Batsmen ...
... that gives them the ability to bat on and on and on...
I was a bit surprised to read that Kumar Sangakkara's double century against Pakistan that saved the first test for Sri Lanka was his 8th score of 200 or above.
8th double ton!
That's a lot of double tons, and it puts King Sanga 3rd on the list of batsmen with the most double centuries. Behind the greats Sir Don Bradman and Brian Lara.
That is quite some company to be around for King Sanga.
He's an awesome batsman no doubt, but I really did not think that he would be up there on this list, especially with the many more elite Indian and Australian batsmen that have plenty of records to their names.
There was another startling fact on the list of double century makers.
Sri Lanka boasts of 3 names in the top 10!]
That is more than any other country. Well not really. Even India has 3 names in the top 10.
But the trio of Sangakkara, Marvan Atapattu, and Mahela Jayawardene have hit 20 double centuries between them, while Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid have 17 between them.
I'm sure there will be statistics to show that most of those double centuries have been scored on dead pitches in the subcontinent and other stats that the Australians would throw up, like many were scored against weak opponents like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
All that doesn't matter.
A double ton is a double ton, and it is one big achievement.
Who would have thought that the Sri Lankans would be on top of the pile when it came to double tons.
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What is interesting is that Sri Lanka has played the least amount of test cricket (sans Bangladesh & Zimbabwe), having played just over 200 games to date. Pakistan has played over 350 tests while India has played over 450. England & Australia are nearly double those amounts. Makes the statistics even more impressive!
He sure is Vaibhav..
Jehan, that's true.. there's definitely something that other batsmen need to learn from the Lankans.. how to bat long on a frequent basis.. awesome concentration levels..