When asked about his retirement Sanga had said,"Retiring from cricket is not about form. I feel that the time's now and it's right. I think a lot of better players have gone and the game has gone on. There are new players who take the mantle, and in my case it won't be any different".
Sangakkara who was also studying law joined the Sri Lankan national side in 2000 as a wicketkeeper-batsman.
Sangakkara is Sri Lanka's most successful test batsman with 12,400 runs in 134 matches. He is fifth on the all-time list of batsman to score runs in the test matches.
He is also the fastest batsman to score 8,000, 9,000, 10,000, 11,000 and 12,000 runs, Sangakkara has notched 38 test centuries. He also has 11 double-centuries, only one short of Sir Donald Bradman's record of 12. His only triple century (319) came against Bangladesh last year.
Sangakkara forged a number of partnerships with friend and teammate Mahela Jayawardene, the highlight being a test-record 624-run third-wicket stand against South Africa in Colombo in 2006, when Sangakkara smashed 287.
In one-day internationals, his aggregate of 14,234 runs is second only to retired Indian great Sachin Tendulkar. Sangakkara slammed 25 centuries in ODIs while in T20s he smashed eight fifties in 56 games for a total of 1,382 runs.
While Sangakkara was known as a prolific batsman he has been also successful behind the stumps as a wicketkeeper.He took a total of 182 catches and 20 stumpings in 132 tests, and 402 catches and 99 stumpings in 404 ODIs.
Sangakkara figured in two World Cup finals — in 2007 under Jayawardene and as captain in 2011.
Sri Lanka was also runner up In two World T20s — as captain in 2009 and under Jayawardene in 2012, before winning his first world title at the 2014 edition in Mirpur under Angelo Mathews.
Sangakkara won several awards including the International Cricket Council's Player of the Year in 2012, when he was also named Test Player of the Year and won the People's Choice award. He was named ODI Player of the Year in 2011 and 2013.
