Why did Kumar Sangakkara learn dance? Russel Arnold reveals!

Bengaluru, June 26: Kumar Sangakkara will always be considered as a batsman supreme and the former Sri Lankan captain also had oozed grace while batting. Russel Arnold, his one-time teammate, now revealed the secret of his twinkling footwork and balance at the crease.

Arnold too delved into the persona of Sangakkara while chatting in 'Homerun with AV', a sports show in YouTube channel 'Gethist Creative' hosted by commentator Arun Venugopal.

"It's true (Sangakkara and Arnold attending dance class). This happened when we were youngsters in Colombo and I was captain of the under-23 side. That was the year Kumar Sangakkara relocated to Colombo from Kandy. He did his schooling in Kandy and in school cricket his performances weren't that great. It was only when he was 22-23, after he had started playing club cricket that his talent shone bright and he reached a different level.

"Along with a few other players and their girlfriends, Sangakkara and I would attend dance classes. Our club NCC (Nondescripts Cricket Club) is located near the SSC Stadium, and the dance class was situated in the same locality. Ball-room dancing, Jazz, and the likes were taught there. After we finished our practice and fitness sessions at around 6.30 pm, we would go to the class at around 7 pm.

"A few sessions later I opted out after discovering that my rhythm was totally out of sync and my dance flopped big time! However, Sangakkara and his then-girlfriend and now-wife (Yehali) continued to take dance lessons," said Arnold.

Once Sangakkara had sledged former South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock reminding him that a billion people had reposed their faith on him. So did Sangakkara always needle the opposition, right from his blooming age?

"Sangakkara didn't have that kind of a personality during his junior-cricket days. That happened only when he started playing at the international level. He was always confident, but he bloomed slightly late. In contrast, right from the under-14, under-15 stage, Mahela Jayawardena was identified as a future cricketer for Sri Lanka just from the way he played. But Sangakkara was barely known during his junior cricketing days.

"It was former international umpire Ashoka de Silva who told me that a boy from Kandy (Sangakkara) would join the NCC (Nondescripts Cricket Club). He asked me to look after him as I was the captain.

"Sangakkara came up and spoke with me. He seemed like a quiet, simple guy for the first year or so. Then, there was an A tour which propelled his career to a different level. In a flick of the finger, he matured into a superb player. Sangakkara went on to score his maiden first-class hundred in Test cricket, not in club cricket," he said.