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Second Sri Lankan to achieve the feat
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara became the fastest to reach the 8,000-mark in Test cricket, during the Sri Lankan second innings on day three of the third and Test against India in Colombo, on Thursday.
Sangakkara took 152 innings to accomplish this feat -- two less than Sachin Tendulkar.
He reached the milestone in the last over of the third day, becoming the second Sri Lankan after Mahela Jayawardene.
Fastest to 8000-run mark:
| Batsman | Inns |
| KC Sangakkara (SL) | 152 |
| SR Tendulkar (Ind) | 154 |
| GS Sobers (WI) | 157 |
| R Dravid (Ind) | 158 |
| Javed Miandad (Pak) | 162 |
| ML Hayden (Aus) | 164 |
| BC Lara (WI) | 164 |
| RT Ponting (Aus) | 165 |
| DPMD Jayawardene (SL) | 165 |
| SM Gavaskar (Ind) | 166 |
| IVA Richards (WI) | 167 |
| JH Kallis (SA) | 170 |
Statistics: Rajneesh Gupta
Photographs: Reuters
Most successful against Zimbabwe and Pakistan
Sangakkara has done well against all the Test playing nations, but he has been particularly successful against Zimbabwe and Pakistan, against whom he averages 89.33 and 77.29 respectively.
Sangakkara along with Mahela Jayawardene also shares the partnership record of 624 runs for the third wicket against South Africa.
In his illustrious career, he has scored 23 centuries and 33 half-centuries. He also has five double centuries in his kitty.
A look at his Test career.
Performance against each country:
| Opponent | Mts | Inns | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 |
| v Australia | 6 | 12 | 503 | 192 | 41.91 | 1 | 3 |
| v Bangladesh | 11 | 14 | 876 | 222* | 73.00 | 2 | 5 |
| v England | 15 | 26 | 1007 | 152 | 40.28 | 1 | 6 |
| v India | 15 | 24 | 1241 | 219 | 59.09 | 5 | 2 |
| v New Zealand | 8 | 14 | 651 | 156* | 59.18 | 3 | 2 |
| v Pakistan | 10 | 19 | 1314 | 230 | 77.29 | 5 | 5 |
| v South Africa | 12 | 22 | 1182 | 287 | 53.72 | 2 | 5 |
| v West Indies | 9 | 15 | 690 | 157* | 49.28 | 2 | 4 |
| v Zimbabwe | 5 | 6 | 536 | 270 | 89.33 | 2 | 1 |
| Overall | 91 | 152 | 8000 | 287 | 55.88 | 23 | 33 |
Sangakkara leads from the front
Sangakkara's batting record has got better, ever since he has taken over the captaincy. Though still in his early days of captaincy, he averages 72.70 in his eight Tests, with five centuries and three half-centuries.
As a player, he averages a staggering 54.99 from 80 Tests, which has 18 centuries and 30 half-centuries.
Sangakkara has enjoyed more success at No 3 position, where he has scored the maximum runs in his career, scoring 22 of his 23 centuries at an average of 60.38.
Performance at home and away:
| Mts | Inns | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 | |
| Home | 52 | 82 | 4684 | 287 | 63.29 | 15 | 16 |
| Away | 39 | 70 | 3316 | 270 | 50.24 | 8 | 17 |
Performance as player and captain:
| Mts | Inns | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 | |
| as a player | 80 | 132 | 6764 | 287 | 54.99 | 18 | 30 |
| as a captain | 11 | 20 | 1236 | 219 | 72.70 | 5 | 3 |
Performance at different batting positions:
| Inns | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 | |
| #1 | 3 | 68 | 31 | 34.00 | 0 | 0 |
| #2 | 5 | 157 | 98 | 39.25 | 0 | 1 |
| #3 | 132 | 7367 | 287 | 60.38 | 22 | 31 |
| #4 | 6 | 304 | 144 | 50.66 | 1 | 1 |
| #5 | 5 | 79 | 27 | 15.80 | 0 | 0 |
| #8 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 25.00 | 0 | 0 |
In elite company
When Sangakkara crossed the 8000-run mark, he joined an elite group, which includes names such as Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Gary Sobers, Viv Richard and Sunil Gavaskar among others.
The 8000-club in Tests:
Mts Inns NO Runs Hs Avg 100 50 SR Tendulkar (Ind) 169 275 29 13783 248* 56.02 48 55 RT Ponting (Aus) 146 247 27 12026 257 54.66 39 52 BC Lara (WI) 131 232 6 11953 400* 52.88 34 48 R Dravid (Ind) 142 244 28 11483 270 53.16 29 58 AR Border (Aus) 156 265 44 11174 205 50.56 27 63 JH Kallis (SA) 140 237 35 11126 189* 55.07 35 53 SR Waugh (Aus) 168 260 46 10927 200 51.06 32 50 SM Gavaskar (Ind) 125 214 16 10122 236* 51.12 34 45 M Jayawardene (SL) 113 186 13 9403 374 54.35 28 36 S Chanderpaul (WI) 126 215 33 8969 203* 49.28 22 54 GA Gooch (Eng) 118 215 6 8900 333 42.58 20 46 Javed Miandad (Pak) 124 189 21 8832 280* 52.57 23 43 Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) 120 200 22 8830 329 49.60 25 46 ML Hayden (Aus) 103 184 14 8625 380 50.73 30 29 IVA Richards (WI) 121 182 12 8540 291 50.23 24 45 AJ Stewart (Eng) 133 235 21 8463 190 39.54 15 45 DI Gower (Eng) 117 204 18 8231 215 44.25 18 39 G Boycott (Eng) 108 193 23 8114 246* 47.72 22 42 GS Sobers (WI) 93 160 21 8032 365* 57.78 26 30 ME Waugh (Aus) 128 209 17 8029 153* 41.81 20 47 KC Sangakkara (SL) 91 152 12 8000 287 57.14 23 33