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On This Day

Born Today- Sri Lanka's First Test Captain

Bandula Warnapura, the man who led Sri Lanka in the inaugural Test match in 1982, was born on this day(?) in 1953. Read more on his legacy, and on his birth anniversary.

The Sidelines

• 3 min read
Born Today- Sri Lanka's First Test Captain

The name Bandula Warnapura holds a very special place in Sri Lanka Cricket's history as the First Test Captain, and today marks his 72nd birth anniversary but hold on, was this article written two months too early?

When is his real birthday?

Let's address the elephant in the room. Why does Bandula Warnapura's birthday fall today, not the March 1st as mentioned everywhere including ESPNCricinfo?

Our good friend Kanchana Pitigala, a cricket archiver and columnist resurfaced this today as well on the authenticity of Bandula's birth date, which translates as "Bandula's registration of birth was on the 1st of March and that's the date mentioned in the birth certificate. Only his family members celebrate his birthday on the actual date - January 14th. This was mentioned in Palitha Perera's book as told by his mother and recently confirmed by his son who sang at "The Voice."

Original Source by Kanchana Pitigala

Early Life and Cricket

Now that we have concluded that Bandula Warnapura was born exactly 72 years ago today, he was initially enrolled at St. Peter's College and later moved to Nalanda College where he captained the 1st XI team in 1971. He was also a member of the Sri Lanka schools team, with many notable names.

He made his ODI debut in the 1975 Prudential World Cup and in 1979, the reigns of leadership were handed down to him from Anura Tennekoon. This was where Sri Lanka beat a Test playing nation for the first time in Limited Overs Cricket with their win against India.

The Inaugural Test Match and Captaincy

Having led Sri Lanka in many Unofficial Tests and after many years of hard work from an administrative perspective to gain Test status for Sri Lanka from ICC, the moment finally dawned upon him as the country's first Test captain in 1982, at the P. Sara Oval against the Keith Fletcher led Englishmen.

As seen in the video above, he faced the very first delivery in this historic match as the opening batter and in the same over, scored the first run in Test Cricket by a Sri Lankan batter, both records that can never be taken away from him.

The AROSA ban and post-retirement

Unfortunately, his career was short lived as he was part of the AROSA Sri Lanka tour to South Africa during the Apartheid and was initially sentenced to a 25 year ban from Cricket.

After the ban was lifted after 8 years (the captain had one year more), he became an Umpire, Referee and even a Schools Cricket coach. When at his Alma Mater, he coached Mahela Jayawardena at a young age and also the Sri Lanka U19 team which included many future national players.

Not everyone who came out of the AROSA XI ban had the same respect from a societal point of view but he wore many caps in his time with Sri Lanka Cricket.

In October 2021, he passed away owing to an illness at the age of 68, leaving behind an undying legacy. May we remember this great cricketer on his actual birthday which falls today.

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