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Sangakarra becomes fastest to reach 12,000 Test runs
Wellington: Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara Saturday became the fastest player to reach 12,000 runs in Test cricket, achieving the milestone in 224 innings.
Sangakkara beat legends Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting to the landmark by 23 Test innings, joining batting greats Tendulkar, Ponting, Jacques Kallis, and Rahul Dravid in the exclusive club.
Sangakkara scored the five runs he was searching for on day one of the second Test against New Zealand, avoiding the carnage on a green pitch here that saw 15 wickets fall on the opening day’s play.
The 37-year-old wicketkeeper batsman averages more than 58 in 130 Tests with a phenomenal 37 Test centuries, the biggest of which was a 319-run knock against Bangladesh in Chittagong in February 2014.
Sangakkara was the leading run-scorer in Tests in 2014, collecting 1,493 runs in 12 matches at an average of 71.09 with four tons.
In 82 Tests playing as a specialist batsman, Sangakkara has scored more than 8,800 runs with 30 centuries at an average nudging 70.
He’s also scored at least 150 against all Test playing nations since debuting against South Africa in Galle in 2000.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.