Kumar Sangakkara ( Captain )

Kumar Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan cricketer who was born on October 27, 1977 in Matale. This left-handed batsman-cum-wicket-keeper is nicknamed "Sanga" in the cricket world. He idolizes the Australian cricketer, Adam Gilchrist, known for his batting and wicket-keeping skills. Considered as the best South-Asian wicket-keeper batsman, his multilingual talent has made him the unofficial spokesman of the Sri Lankan cricket team. Kumar Sangakkara attended the Trinity College in Kandy and is married to Yehali.

Kumar Sangakkara made his Test debut for Sri Lanka on July 20, 2000 versus South Africa. His highest score of 287 in Test cricket came in the match against South Africa in July 2006. He joined hands with his teammate, Mahela Jayawardene, to build a partnership of 624 runs in the match, creating a world record in both Test and First-class cricket. Kumar Sangakkara is one among the few batsmen who have made more than five double centuries in Test cricket. His back-to-back double centuries against Bangladesh in 2007 have made him the sixth man in the world to achieve this feat, putting him on par with cricketing greats such as Sir Don Bradman and Wally Hammond. Kumar Sangakkara also has to his credit of being the first batsman ever to score more than 150 in an innings in four consecutive Test matches. He has been ranked as the number 1 batsman by the LG International Cricket Council (ICC) Test ratings on December 6, 2007. As of August 11, 2008 he has scored 6356 runs at an average of 54.79 and has taken 153 catches from 76 matches in Test cricket. He has also won nine Man of the Match awards for his match-winning efforts.

Kumar Sangakkara made his first One-Day International (ODI) appearance for Sri Lanka against Pakistan on July 5, 2000. He was a part of the ICC World XI for the Super Series One-Day games in October 2005. He was a key member of the Sri Lankan team that lifted the 2008 Asia Cup. He played a pivotal role for the team during the tournament by contributing three centuries. His brilliant display in ODI cricket has earned him three Man of the Series and twelve Man of the Match awards. Kumar Sangakkara has played in 230 ODI games, securing 6,777 runs at an excellent strike rate of 74.42, his highest score being 138* versus India in 2005. As a wicket-keeper he has taken 210 catches and effected 58 stumping as of August 29, 2008.

Kumar Sangakkara made his International Twenty20 (T20I) debut for the Sri Lankan team versus England in Southampton on June 15, 2006. He was selected to be a part of the Kings XI Punjab for the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. He was signed for US$ 700,000 by the Kings XI team. His brilliant performance in the match versus Mumbai Indians on April 25, 2008 won him the Man of the Match award and his last game of the 2008 IPL season was against the Chennai Super Kings team in Mumbai on May 31, 2008. Kumar Sangakkara has represented the Kings XI team in ten IPL matches during the 2008 season scoring 320 runs, his best being 94 against the Mumbai Indians.