IPL playerSri Lanka2008 to 2013
Kumar Sangakkara
On scorecards: KC Sangakkara · Right-hand bat
Kumar Sangakkara, a wicketkeeper-batter, played six IPL seasons for three franchises.
The arrival
Kumar Sangakkara arrived through the auction: Kings XI Punjab paid ₹2.80 cr (US$700k), against a base price of ₹1 cr, at the very first IPL auction.
That first season brought 10 matches and 320 runs.
The peak
The high point with the bat was 2011, for Deccan Chargers: 358 runs at an average of 27.5, striking at 122.2 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 121.0, with 1 fifty, and a highest score of 65.
Measured against the league around it, though, the most destructive season was 2008: 320 runs at a strike rate of 161.6, 32 runs per hundred balls quicker than the IPL as a whole that year.
Franchise by franchise
2008 to 2010, Kings XI Punjab. Bought at the 2008 auction for ₹2.80 cr. 37 matches and 1,009 runs.
2011 to 2012, Deccan Chargers. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹3.15 cr. 25 matches and 558 runs; captain in 2012.
2013, Sunrisers Hyderabad. Arrived outside the auction. 9 matches and 120 runs.
3 spells with three franchises in all. The longest was with Kings XI Punjab, 2008 to 2010.
How the runs came
Across the career, Kumar Sangakkara struck at 121.2. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 122.7, so the scoring rate tracked the league's almost exactly. 56% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 195 fours and 27 sixes.
The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 37% of the balls Kumar Sangakkara faced were dot balls, a higher share than 62% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 51.6 balls, and a four every 7.1.
The fielding record: 45 catches, 11 run-outs and 9 stumpings, the stumpings a reminder of the gloves.
At the auction
Kumar Sangakkara went under the hammer three times, bought twice and left unsold once. The highest price was ₹3.15 cr (US$700k), paid by Deccan Chargers in 2011.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
The legacy
Kumar Sangakkara made 71 IPL appearances, the last for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013, and won 5 player-of-the-match awards.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Kings XI Punjab | 10 | 320 | 94 | 35.6 | 161.6 | 4/0 | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 332 | 60 | 30.2 | 102.5 | 2/0 | – | – | – | 8 | 2 | |
| 2010 | Kings XI Punjab | 13 | 357 | 56 | 29.8 | 138.9 | 2/0 | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | |
| 2011 | Deccan Chargers | 13 | 358 | 65 | 27.5 | 122.2 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 19 | ||
| 2012 | Deccan Chargers | 12 | 200 | 82 | 18.2 | 108.7 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 9 | 1 | Captain |
| 2013 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 9 | 120 | 28 | 13.3 | 88.2 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 3 |
Franchise journey
- Kings XI Punjab: 2008 to 2010
- Deccan Chargers: 2011 to 2012
- Sunrisers Hyderabad: 2013
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 37% |
| Balls per four | 7.1 |
| Balls per six | 51.6 |
| Catches | 45 |
| Run-outs | 11 |
| Stumpings | 9 |
At the auction
| Auction | Set | Base price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Set B | ₹1 cr | Sold to Kings XI Punjab for ₹2.80 cr (US$700k) |
| 2011 | – | ₹1.35 cr | Sold to Deccan Chargers for ₹3.15 cr (US$700k) |
| 2015 | Wicketkeeper | ₹1 cr | Unsold |
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet