COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s first-ever Test cricket captain Bandula Warnapura has died at the age of 68 at a city hospital on Monday, 18 October.
Not only did he lead the Sri Lankan side in its maiden Test match in February 1982 against England, but he also faced the first ball and scored the first run for the island nation. He also achieved the rare record of opening the batting and opening the bowling (second innings) in the same game.
“He was an excellent cricketer, administrator, coach, commentator and, above all, a good person, and his passing away is a huge loss for the cricket community,” Sri Lanka Cricket President Shammi Silva said in a statement posted Monday on Twitter. “I am sure his name and deeds will remain in our hearts forever.”
Warnapura played four test matches as an opening batsman and medium fast bowler between February and September 1982, including two in Pakistan and one in India. He also played 12 one-day internationals, including the World Cups in 1975 and 1979 before Sri Lanka was elevated to cricket’s highest status.
His decision later in 1982 to join a tour to South Africa, which was in sporting isolation because of its apartheid policies, resulted in bans from Sri Lanka’s government and the national cricket board. He was one of three players from Sri Lanka’s inaugural test XI who received life bans, which were lifted after several years.
The lowering of the ban was too late for Warnapura to return to the game as a player, but he worked as a broadcast commentator and was a cricket administrator at the national and domestic level.
