Kumar Sangakkara humbly played down comparisons with batting greats after inking his name in the record books with a second consecutive double hundred against Bangladesh at the Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
Sangakkara became the fifth man in history to score back-to-back double centuries, joining Don Bradman and Walter Hammond among others, when he made an unbeaten 222 on the third day of the second Test.
"Its nice to be in that company for double hundreds but I think I've got a long way to go, when it comes to achievements and scoring runs. I've a lot more to do to really deserve that in Tests. I would say 'thank you' for it and keep working hard," said Sangakkara. Vinod Kambli, Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting are the others to have achieved the feat.
The double hundred last week was, he felt, a better innings, because "the key is to getting runs is when you are not feeling too comfortable, and not batting at your best.
"This double hundred was slightly more fluent than the one I got at the Sara Stadium. There was a bit more rhythm in this innings. I didn't struggle as much as I did in Colombo. I still think I've a few things to iron out back in the nets when I go to Colombo so that I get everything down the way I want it to be," he said.
Sangakkara put together a massive 311-run partnership for the third wicket with his captain Mahela Jayawardene who scored 165. The union formed the base for Sri Lanka's massive score of 500-4.
"It's always nice to bat with Mahela because he scores really quickly. It opens up a lot more opportunities for me as well. We like batting together very much. We compliment each other in a way that our scoring rates also go up," said Sangakkara.
"The key today were the partnerships. The more partnerships you build, the more you can increase your scoring rate. We went out there first to consolidate and get a foundation for us to launch from. When we had that it got a lot easier for us to score. Our main game plan was to go out there bat the day," he said.
With a lead of 369 already, Sri Lanka is expected to declare overnight and get Bangladesh batting a second time tomorrow. "The pitch will offer a good deal of assistance to Murali. But the key would be to expIoit the new ball. There's a bit in it if the bowlers hit the right areas and hit the seam," said Sangakkara.