Sri Lanka’s first Test captain Bandula Warnapura passes away
Bandula Warnapura, who captained Sri Lanka in their first Test, passed away on Monday while receiving treatment in a private hospital. Apart from captaining islanders in their 1st Test versus England in 1982, Warnapura also faced the first delivery and scored the first run in Tests for his country.
Bandula Warnapura, Sri Lanka’s first Test captain passed away on Monday, October 18 while receiving treatment in a private hospital. He was a part of a historic moment in Sri Lankan cricket as he captained the nation in their first-ever Test match against England in 1982. He also achieved the rare record of facing first delivery for Sri Lanka and scoring first run for the islanders in Test cricket. He played four Test and 12 ODIs for the country.
"Sri Lanka Cricket is deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of Bandula Warnapura, Sri Lanka's first Test captain.We wish to express our condolences to the family at this difficult time on behalf of Sri Lanka's cricketing fraternity," the release from Sri Lanka cricket said.
Warnapura made his ODI debut in the 1975 World Cup against West Indies and scored 2 runs from 35 balls while opening the innings. His highest ODI score came against Pakistan in 1981-82 season when he played a knock of 77 runs but his team lost the match by eight wickets.
After his retirement, he became the coach of Sri Lankan team and later Director of Coaching.
"He was also a much admired cricket commentator and shared his wealth of knowledge and experience on the sport on several television platforms.
"Warnapura, an old boy of Nalanda College opened batting for Sri Lanka and represented the country in 4 Test matches and 12 One Day Internationals, besides taking 8 wickets in ODI’s bowling medium pace.
"Bandula Warnapura who was 68 years old at the time of passing away, leaves behind his beloved wife, daughter, two sons and grandchildren," the SLC statement added.