Sanga- The Best of the Best???

[Paoli]

Kumar Sangakkara. He is without doubt the second best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world right now, leading runscorer in combined internationals in 2004.

But is he the best Sri Lankan cricketer at the moment? He'd be upstaging some big names, Jayasuriya, Attapattu, Vaas and the one and only Murali.

I think as the most in form player in Sri Lanka, Sanga deserves a fair chance at being named the best. Could he one day surpass Gilchrist???

[Seamer]

Statistically, i don,t think he will ever match Gilly, but if Gilly retired tomorrow(God forbid!!!) Sanga would then be the worlds best for sure

[bevo]

gilly will be the best keeper ever , i dont see sangakarra catching up to gilly , and i dont see gilly dropping his standards down to sangakkara, brad haddin will automatically be the best when he starts playing more international cricket , i am picking in the future luke ronchi from australia , or denesh karthik from india , will be very very good keepers when older.
i recon haddin could be second best keeper , do you , doubt it

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by Seamer

Statistically, i don,t think he will ever match Gilly, but if Gilly retired tomorrow(God forbid!!!) Sanga would then be the worlds best for sure

On second thoughts, i forgot Haddin. If Gilly retired tomorrow, Sanga would be second behind Haddin. They are a equal match with the bat (maybe Sanga is a little better) but Haddin has him with the gloves

[bevo]

haddin has shined with the bat also against the touring sides

[DomainK]

Sanga is a very good keeper-batsman, but I guess he has some real competition from Dhoni. Of course we need to see more of Dhoni, but if he keeps playing the way he is, he will probably leave everyone behind.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by bevo

gilly will be the best keeper ever

Well.. only if you forget his two great predecessors... both of whom were better wicketkeepers... and only if you completely forget to look elsewhere in the world: even Jack Russell and Chris Read tower over Gilchrist as a wicket-keeper... and Godfrey Evans towers over them!

Sangakkara shouldn't even be talked of as a wicket-keeper: he's a batsman. Even Cricinfo notes "During the early days his wicketkeeping could be ragged at times" and that's flattering him: he was considerably worse than "iron hands" Boucher at the start and (like the South African) ain't EVER going to be great for the simple reason that he's not a natural.

[sittingduck]

I agree, he's a batsmenwicketkeeper, not a wicketkeeper batsmen.

I'd agree he's the best Sri Lankan player tho, wasn't he the only one to make the world 11.

Can't wait to see him in action down under in January.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by sittingduck

I'd agree he's the best Sri Lankan player tho, wasn't he the only one to make the world 11.

Murali is a contender for an all-time XI (and would certainly make an all-time squad) and Vaas SHOULD have played in the RoW ODI side. As a batsman, Mahela Jayawardene is ahead of Sangakkara in the LG Test ratings.... and has a slightly higher career best (he's got a higher career best ODI rating as well). As a ODI player Sangakkara stands out... but even on that front he's some way to go to catch up Jayasuria (who, like Sangakkara, can also be classed as a multi-dimensional player by virtue of his quite passable bowling).

Sri Lanka have a stack of decent players... they just ain't delivering to potential at the moment. I've an idea they have something like four home series in close succession in the near future though...

[Mr Cricket]

MURLE for me best. Sri lankan batsman is Kumar Sangkara without a doubt. Jaysuria only for like 4 years ago with Ranatunga.