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| Full name | Bandula Warnapura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 March 1953 Rambukkana, Ceylon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 18 October 2021(2021-10-18) (aged 68) Colombo, Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 10) | 17 February 1982 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 17 September 1982 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 11) | 7 June 1975 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 26 September 1982 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | Bloomfield | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:Cricinfo,31 January 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bandula Warnapura (Sinhala:බන්දුල වර්ණපුර; 1 March 1953 – 18 October 2021) was a Sri Lankancricketer and former captain of theSri Lankan cricket team. He played fourTest matches and twelveOne Day Internationals (ODI) during his international cricketing career from 1975 to 1982.[1] He was a right-handed opening batsman and a right-handed medium pacebowler.[2]
Warnapura captained Sri Lanka's first Test match, and also faced the first delivery and scored the first run for his team.[3] He also had the rare distinction of opening the bowling and opening the batting in the second innings for Sri Lanka in their first ever Test match.[4]
He captained Sri Lanka in all the Tests he played, although he could not lead his team to victory in any of them. However, Sri Lanka won the first ODI match he captained. He scored one half-century in ODI cricket.
Bandula Warnapura was born on 1 March 1953 inRambukkana.[5]Malinda Warnapura, who played for theSri Lanka national cricket team, is his nephew.[6] He was an old boy ofNalanda College Colombo.[7] Bandula captainedNalanda College Colombo first XI cricket team in 1971. Warnapura has worked as anICC match referee and anumpire, and was also a certified cricketing coach. He served as the coach for the Sri Lanka national cricket team before he was appointed Director of Coaching in 1994. He became Director of Operations ofSri Lanka Cricket in 2001.[8] He functioned in that post for eight years before he resigned in 2008.[9] He was the Development Manager of theAsian Cricket Council.[8] He has also refereed two Tests and three ODIs in 2001[5]
He made his first-class debut against the Indian Universities in 1970. He rose to prominence at first-class level for his blistering knock of 154 against Pakistan Under-25s during the 1973–74 season.[4]
Warnapura was the first Sri Lankan Test cricketcap[10] and got the opportunity to lead theSri Lanka national cricket team in their very firstTest match, which was played againstEngland in 1982. The five-day match started on 17 February 1982 at thePaikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium. Warnapura and English captainKeith Fletcher made thetoss in the morning, which was won by Warnapura. He elected to bat first, and opened the batting for Sri Lanka withSidath Wettimuny. He faced the firstdelivery of the match, and scored the first Testrun for his country. According to a local newspaper, he was even the first Sri Lankan batsman to get hit on the chest. However, he was dismissed for only 2 runs, when he was caught byDavid Gower off the bowling ofBob Willis.[3][11] The first player to bat in a Test match for Sri Lanka had faced 25 deliveries during the 35 minutes he batted. During the Sri Lankan secondinnings, Warnapura made 38 runs off 155 deliveries – the second highest score in that innings. England won the match,[12] and Warnapura's 38 would remain as his highest Test individual score.[13]
Warnapura was unsuccessful in his second match, played againstPakistan in March 1982, scoring just 13 runs in the Sri Lankan first innings, and getting out without scoring in the second.[14] He could not play in the second match of the series due to an injury.[15] In the next match, also against Pakistan, he scored 7 and 26 in the first and second innings respectively. Both matches were lost by Sri Lanka.[16]
Warnapura's fourth and last Test match was againstIndia in September 1982. He was unsuccessful again, scoring just 4 in the first innings and 6 in the second, and the match ended in a draw.[17] During his Test career, Warnapura captained the Sri Lankan side in all four matches he played. He had scored a total of 96 runs, with anaverage of 12.00.[18]
Warnapura was the 11th Sri Lankan ODI cricketcap.[19] HisOne Day International (ODI) debut was againstWest Indies on 7 June 1975, in a1975 Cricket World Cup match that was also Sri Lanka's first ODI. He was dismissed for 8 runs in that match, which Sri Lanka lost.[20] Bandula had a weird ODI debut scoring 8 runs off 54 balls and he became the first Sri Lankan batsman ever to score a boundary in an ODI as well as the first boundary scored by a batsman for Sri Lanka in a World Cup match.[21]
He was given the captaincy of the team to temporarily replaceAnura Tennekoon (who was injured) in his fifth match,[22] which was played against India on 16 June 1979, as part of the1979 Cricket World Cup. He led the team to victory, scoring 18 runs in the match and taking awicket. It was also the only victory in the series by anAssociate Member nation (Sri Lanka had not yet gained Full Member status) in the tournament.[23][24]
In 1982, Warnapura was appointed captain of the Sri Lankan team. He made his first and onlyhalf-century against Pakistan on 12 March in the same year. He made 77 runs in that match, although it was lost by Sri Lanka.[25] Warnapura played 12 ODI matches, accumulating a total of 180 runs at an average of 15.00. He also captured 8 wickets at an average of 39.50, as well taking 5 catches during his career.[26]
Disputes had arisen among members of the Sri Lankan team and its administration only a few months after Sri Lanka's inaugural Test match. This resulted in a "rebel tour" ofapartheid South Africa (which was banned from international cricket at the time). Several Sri Lankan players took part in this tour, and the team which was captained by Warnapura and namedArosa Sri Lanka, left the country in secret in September 1982.[27] The tour was unsuccessful; Arosa Sri Lanka played 12 matches and lost 10 of them, while the other two ended in draws.[28] As a result of this tour, theBoard of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) imposed 25-year bans from all forms of cricket on all Sri Lankan players who participated, including Warnapura.[27] Although the ban was revoked after nine years, Warnapura did not play international cricket again.[29] He later claimed that not only financial issues but pressure from some members of the BCCSL forced them to undertake the tour, and expressed disappointment at the fact that no formal inquiry was held.[30]
He served as the coach of the Sri Lankan team, and has also served in its administration. He also coachedMahela Jayawardene at the Nalanda College and was also a Under-19 national coach ofRussel Arnold. He became an administrator at the Bloomfield Club in 1991 after the end of the ban which he served for being part of Sri Lanka's Arosa tour of South Africa in 1982.[31]
Warnapura was an official of theAsian Cricket Council. Warnapura participated as a judge in the reality showYouth With Talent telecasted byIndependent Television Network in 2016–17.[32]
In October 2021, Warnapura was admitted to hospital due to a diabetes-related issue, with doctors forced to amputate his left leg.[33][34] He died on 18 October 2021 while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Colombo.[35][36]
| Preceded by New title | Sri Lankan Test captain 1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sri Lankan ODI cricket captain 1979–1982 |
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