The 37-year old southpaw Kumar Sangakkara surely brought tears to the eyes of all cricket fans around the globe when he made his farewell speech after the second Test ended on Monday at P. Sara Oval grounds.
“Your excellency, the President of Sri Lanka, the honourable Prime Minister, Members of Parliament, all the well-wishers and the invitees, fans, all my friends, my family – who are all here, which is a rare occasion that all of us are together – Virat Kohli and the Indian team, Angelo and my team, I have got so many people to thank here.” Sanga commenced his speech.
Sanga thanked his alma-mater first, “I will start off with my school – Trinity College, Kandy. Trinity College gave me a fantastic ground there in Kandy. It was an amazing school to go to. I owe a lot of who I am today to the grounding and foundation I got there. To all my coaches – I had so many because my father used to take me to so many coaches when I was young – a big thank you.”
A popular character in the dressing room, Sanga gave respect to everyone who helped him in his journey, “To all my past captains, to Sri Lanka Cricket, to all my team-mates, thank you very much for everything that you’ve done for me. The support that I received, the inspiration, the drive and the commitment you have shown, not just to the game but also to each other and to me, I value all very, very highly. I am going to miss all that chat we had in the dressing room.”
Sanga thanked his personal manager as well, “To Charlie and Suthami Austin, thank you very much for managing me. You’ve become much more than managing, you’ve become family. I know I haven’t thanked you enough in the past but today I’d like to say a huge thank you to Charlie and Suthami for being friends and being my managers and most of all for making me the godfather of your beautiful children.”
An emotional Sangakkara with tears in his eyes paid tribute to his parents, “I did not have to look far for inspiration. My parents are here. I didn’t have to look far. I had amazing siblings. I am blessed with a wonderful family. I was blessed to be born as your children. When I look up at the box, people that I’ve known for 30 years, friends, family, everyone is here and to see that they love me is great and it will be my greatest achievement. Lot of people ask me who inspired me and I always say I didn’t have to look far for inspiration. I am sorry I don’t want to embarrass you too much, but I didn’t have to look far from my home for inspiration because I have the most amazing parents that anyone could wish for. I had amazing siblings and all the support, the love that they showed over the years, whether I played cricket or not, whether I did well or not, the only place I could go and feel safe was home and thank you ‘amma’ (mother) and ‘apachchi’ (father). Thank you. ”
The T20 World Cup winner guaranteed his fans that he will be a spectator in the future, “It’s been one of the most special privileges of my life to play in front of the Sri Lankan people and Sri Lankan fans. I’m especially thankful to your love and support. My innings has ended. I won’t play international cricket again. But I’ll come with you Khettarama, to Galle, to Tamil Union, and to SSC to watch the young cricketers play.”
In the end, Kumar made his remarks to the Sri Lanka and India teams, “Finally to Virat and the Indian team, thank you for all the words and your kindness. And you guys over the years have been our toughest opponents. Doesn’t matter if we’ve lost today, we’ll try and beat you in the next match. Angelo and your team, you’ve got a wonderful team. I hope you try hard, don’t be afraid to lose and keep the Sri Lankan flag flying high.”
