Kumar Sangakkara backs “class” Virat Kohli to break his record in 2018

The India-Sri Lanka cricketing rivalry is closing in on 40 years, but this isn’t quite a ‘rivalry’ in the strictest sense of the word as both the teams have always shared a great camaraderie with each other. However, the recent Test series between the nations have been marred with controversies ranging from Niroshan Dickwella’s match-delaying tactics at Edens to the Oxygen-gate in Delhi. The coaches of two teams took indirect digs at each other with the Lankan media going against the Indian management for their casual remark. However, it has not affected the former cricketers and especially, Sangakkara’s admiration for Kohli.

In the series, the Indian skipper, despite starting with a duck, ended up as the highest run-getter. He notched up scores of 0, 104*, 213, 243 and 50 in the three-match series which India clinched 1-0. However, despite scoring more than 600 runs in the series, Kohli still fell short of Sangakkara’s overall tally of 2,868 runs across formats in a calendar year by just 50 runs. Kohli will not be taking part in the limited-overs series - consisting of three ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka, which means that he ends the year on 2,818 runs. 

On Wednesday, after a Sri Lankan cricket statistician pointed out that Kohli has fallen short of Sangakkara’s stunning record, Sanga was quick to brush it aside by stating that Kohli has immense capability to cross that in the following year.