Kumar Sangakkara, a Gentleman And a Cricketer: Mahela Jayawardene Remembers His Best Friend

Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara were the legendary pillars of the Sri Lankan middle order. Their partnership in Tests yielded 6554 runs at an average of 56.5, making them the second-most successful partnership in history after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. (Sangakkara: A Career To Savour)

With Kumar Sangakkara playing his final Test at the P Sara Stadium on Wednesday, Jayawardene has spoken about his best friend's journey and how his exploits have taken Sri Lankan cricket to the next level. (Sangakkara Aims To Leave On a High)

In an exclusive chat with ESPNCricinfo, Jayawardene revealed Sangakkara was initially not sure whether he belonged in the dressing room and it took him some time to understand how good he really was. Jayawardene pointed out that Sangakkara's knock of 98 against South Africa in Centurion, 2001, in tough conditions gave him the confidence he needed. (Sangakkara In Same League As Tendulkar: Shastri)

"With Sanga the thing is that once he is prepared and has a plan, he's so methodical. It's sometimes frightening how serious he is. He's made so many changes in his batting over the years," Jayawardene said. (Jayawardene Set To Join England As Batting Consultant)

Jayawardene went on to say that his knock of 192 against Australia in Hobart in 2008 was a special one and it earmarked him as a great player.

"We almost won that game from nowhere. He's always batted in tough conditions quite well. In Pakistan on a few occasions he has batted through. Whenever the conditions are tough, he always found a different gear."

The right-hander, who has scored 11814 runs at an average of 49.84, said that he learned a lot from Sangakkara in his playing career.

"His training and the mindset when he goes overseas is immaculate. The way he prepared and the gameplans that he comes up with, was what I got from him. The way he formulated plans against certain bowlers on certain tracks helped me understand things a bit better.

"Kumar plays pace quite well. He's developed a very good technique against that. So it helped me to feed off him overseas and work out how to adjust my game," he said.

When asked about memories on the cricketing field, Jayawardene stated that Sangakkara played a big part in his knock of 119 in Lord's in 2006 and that he was annoyed with the way he got out in the 2011 World Cup final against India in Mumbai.

Following Sangakkara's retirement, he says that his life will be occupied with off-field engagements.

"We know that he's not going to be a yes-man. He will always point out the wrong things that I do. We've both been open about it. It's also a lot of fun. We have interests on and off the field and are very competitive, so that's helped us grow as a partnership," Jayawardene added.