Having played alongside left-arm fast bowler Sam Curran in the English County Championship for Surrey, former Sri Lankan batsman, the great Kumar Sangakkara has said that he is not at all surprised with the success that the talented youngster enjoyed during the first Test in Edgbaston.

Praising the 20-year-old Curran for making the match-winning contribution of 67 runs and 5 wickets in the closely contested game, Sangakkara, after the match, was quoted saying, “He is a guy who can bat really well. He has been so impressive for Surrey. He has shouldered the burden of the opening bowler across all format. The kind of character he has shown isn’t just the testament to the hard work he is putting but also to county cricket system. In three years, he has become a player who can go out and perform under pressure,” 

Sam’s brother Tom has also played for England and talking about both of them, Sanga further added, “Hopefully, he and Tom (Curran) have the opportunity to work together for England in the future but they would take a lot of pride in the way they work. They are very tough competitors which I love to see. Everything about their game and the effort they put in is about moving forward. There would be a lot of proud boys sitting in that Surrey dressing room watching him (Sam Curran) that he is a special player whom you need to handle with care. You need to make sure that he has a long career for England.”

Earlier having received the Man of the match award for his stellar all-around effort, Curran actually gave credit to Virat Kohli and Kumar himself for inspiring him for his magnificent second innings knock. 

Curran said, "I can't take it all at the moment. It feels like I'm dreaming. To be honest, I tried to learn from how Virat(Kohli) batted with the tail in the first innings,"

Having helped England win the game by 31 runs, Curran further added and revealed, "Met Kumar (Sangakkara) the other day in the hotel and he spoke to me a bit about batting with the tail. Playing Test cricket in front of this crowd, with these guys I have grown up watching, I am just looking to learn every day," 

(Inputs from Indian Express and PTI)