[Watch] Kumar Sangakkara plays village cricket wearing helmet gifted by Yashasvi Jaiswal

Kumar Sangakkara has returned to playing village cricket in England. This is his third season, playing for his local team - Shillingstone Cricket Club. The former Sri Lankan captain is 48 years old, but he is still scoring big in village cricket.

In his first match this season, the stylish wicketkeeper-batter amassed 168 not out, hitting 16 fours and 11 sixes against Broadstone CC. A whopping 130 runs came from boundaries. The stalwart seems to have cut down on rotating strike as he used to during his days in Sri Lankan cricket and is relying on boundaries to score the bulk of his runs, something that is understandable for someone his age.

Details of his stint in village cricket this season were revealed during the latest episode of The Scoop. One of the most fascinating things that was noticeable was the helmet Sangakkara wore. It had the Indian national flag and the BCCI logo embedded. During the episode, it was mentioned that Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal gifted Sangakkara the helmet.

How are Kumar Sangakkara and Yashasvi Jaiswal connected?

For the unversed, Sangakkara has been a mentor for Jaiswal during his time at the Rajasthan Royals. The former is the head coach of the Rajasthan Royals, where Jaiswal is the vice-captain. Both share a warm relationship, and Sangakkara has played a key role in the Mumbai batter's development through the years.

In IPL 2026, Yashasvi had a decent season if you look at his numbers exclusively. In 16 matches, he scored 427 runs at an average of 30.50 and a strike rate of 152.50, including three half-centuries. He also stepped in to lead the side in matches that Riyan Parag missed due to injury. However, when compared to fellow young Indian openers like Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi's performance was underwhelming.

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The 24-year-old is currently a part of the Indian side that is playing the ongoing three-match ODI series against Afghanistan at home. In the second ODI, he opened the batting with Rohit Sharma, but got dismissed for four runs on a belter of a track.