Bandula Warnapura, Sri Lanka’s first Test Captain and a former coach and administrator, died aged 68 at a private hospital in Colombo on October 18, 2021.
An old boy of Nalanda College, Warnapura was a right hand batsman and a medium pace bowler. He played 12 ODIs and four Tests in an international career spanning seven years from 1975-1982. He captained the side in each of his Tests and eight ODIs, including Sri Lanka’s maiden Test in 1982 against England. His 38, while opening the batting in the second innings of that game, would remain his highest Test score.
He made his ODI debut against the West Indies at the 1975 World Cup and in the same tournament, he scored a memorable 39-ball 31 against an Australian attack led by Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee. His sole international half-century came in 1982 in an ODI against Pakistan in Karachi, a 98-ball 77 in a losing cause. He was also a useful right-arm medium pacer picking up eight wickets in ODIs and has the distinction of being one of the few players to have both opened the bowling and the batting in the same Test.
Warnapura’s international career, however, was cut short when he was handed a life ban by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for touring South Africa with a rebel team in 1982-83. Once the ban was lifted many years later, Warnapura returned to SLC as an administrator following his retirement.
The Sri Lanka national side wore black arm bands during their T20 World Cup match against Namibia as a tribute to Warnapura.. The Under-19 team that played against Bangladesh in the second Youth ODI in Dambulla also wore black arm bands.
