How Good Is Sangakarra?

Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid take most of the accolades when it comes to debating the best number three's but how far is Sangakarra behind if at all?

A better player of spin than Ponting but an average record in swinging conditions is his one negative note.

An average of 56 in 101 tests but he averages 72 up until this game without the gloves and this in 53 tests.

Do you rate him above the mentioned two or is he a home town bully?

Dravid is daylight ahead.He plays both pace and spin better than Sanga.
Ponting and Sanga are a bit closer.

Sanga is one of the best wicket keeper batsmen of all time, and I would rate him one of the best number 3's I've ever seen.

Dravid is probably the best, then Sanga and Ricky tied

Prior and Dhoni both have better records with the bat than Sanga whilst keeping wkts.
Sanga is a terrific specialist batsmen but he is not in the same league as Sachin,Dravid or Kallis.Ponting is also better IMO.
Sanga is in the KP,Hussey,Chanderpaul,Sehwag,Smith,Cook league.
If he performs well in SA this winter then he would move up a notch.
I wont call him a hometown bully.He has done exceedingly well in Australia and NZ.The only place where he has struggled is England but that can happen.He hasnt played in SA of late.So I would be interested to see how he does well over there.I wont call him an All Time Great as yet but he can be.

However the other SL batsmen are subcontinent bullies.

Sanga is an outstanding player. I don't agree with the comment that Dravid is daylight ahead of Sanga.

There are several great batsmen in test cricket history with less than impressive records in England. Examples include Doug Walters, Victor Trumper, Jacques Kallis, Redpath, Kallicharran, Neil Harvey, Laxman, Hayden, Slater, and Greg Chappell.

Kallis averages <30 after 12 tests in England, and Ponting's average in England is much less than his overall average.

SL batsmen are often criticised for not performing very well outside home. We have to keep in mind that they are given many opportunities abroad. Sanga is yet to play 10 test matches in any one country outside SL. Their test series abroad are usually limited to two matches each and in places like Darwin.

IMO, Sangakkara's worth is undervalued by most.

Ponting and Dravid are the slightly better batsmen, for me. They deal with the swinging ball better, for one (though Dravid is the stand out in such conditions).

Still, a truly outstanding player and all time great of the sport, no doubt.

IMO Ponting > Sangakkara > Dravid

IMO
Tendulkar > Kallis > Dravid > Sangakkara > Ponting

Sangakkara is very, very good. One of the best ever Sri Lankan batters of all times, alongside Aravinda and Mahela.
In the global seen, he has been a prolific number 3, and did a terific job as a wiket keeping top order batsman. Not too sure hether he's in the Dravid league, but he should be there or there about.

He is probably one of the most important players to a team. I agree that Dravid is better, unsure about Ponting, but Sangakkara definitely means more to his team than the others. Taking him out would be leave a very large hole in the team.

Sangakkara whilst good, isn't great. His average is boosted by millions of runs on flat sub continental pitches. Of his 26 hundreds only 5 are outside Asia. Hardly the stuff of a great batsman. 1 of the 5 hundreds outside Asia was against a weak Zim attack. The other 4 where against good attacks, but 4 hundreds is far too few,

Demon Racer wrote:Sangakkara whilst good, isn't great. His average is boosted by millions of runs on flat sub continental pitches. Of his 26 hundreds only 5 are outside Asia. Hardly the stuff of a great batsman. 1 of the 5 hundreds outside Asia was against a weak Zim attack. The other 4 where against good attacks, but 4 hundreds is far too few,

If thats the case then all the sun con bowlers should be world class, because they always get to bowl in batsmen friendly pitches. Should a sub con bowler with an avge of 35 be considered a better bowler then an English or Saffer bowler with an avge of 20?

To be fair,Sanga unlike Mahela hasnt played a lot outside subcon.He averages over 50 in NZ and over 60 in Australia.His average of 39 in SA is better than most of the overseas batsmen in that country.The only place where he hasnt done well is England which can be described as a mere coincidence given that he has done well in other similar conditions.I think Sanga is a fantastic all conditions player unlike his teammates.I would rate him on par with Ponting if he can maintain his good record in SA in the upcoming series.
Still think Dravid is better though.My comment about Dravid being daylight ahead was just an exaggeration though.I just rate Dravid so highly.

Mahela J struggles on tour.

Sangakkara, has a decent record on the road.

They are not the only players with a huge difference between home and away batting averages. Chanderpaul and Mike Hussey are other examples.

Home and away averages (just to back-up what I said):

M Hussey - H 63, A 45
Sanga - H 62, A 49
Mahela J - H 63, A 41
Chanderpaul - H 58, A 42
Hayden - H 58, A 42
M Clarke - H 52, A 42
Ponting - H 58, A 48