Bandula Warnapura the Rebel

The Captain of the Sri Lanka Rebel Tour to South Africa was himself a Rebel. He fought for his people and for the cause. He was political in his conduct, yet once again for the betterment of all. He would fight the establishment, however strong they are, and make slow and steady progress towards the goal. That is how a cricketer who had been banned for life was able to rejoin the establishment and advance in International Cricket management.

Bandula Warnapura was a happily retired sportsman at the time of his demise, one year ago on October 17th, 2021. 39 years and one month after his last test match. If cricket was his career that started when he was ten years old in 1963 and continued all the way until 2021, his years of service would be 58. 

Early years at Nalanda College

Warnapura, who made his first XI debut as an opener aged just 14, scored a century in a third-term match versus St. Peter’s College, giving a glimpse of what was to come. 
Warnapura first grabbed national attention at 16 when he was selected for the Ceylon School cricket team to tour India. He stole the limelight by scoring 392 runs at an average of 78.40. 

National Career and Captaincy

In the absence of regular skipper Anura Tennekoon, Warnapura led Sri Lanka to a famous victory in a 1979 World Cup match against India. Sri Lanka ended the tournament ranked number three in the group ahead of India, making people notice the emerging country. 

Warnapura had the honour of leading Sri Lanka in its first-ever Test match, and his approach towards captaincy is considered to have created a more conducive and all-inclusive environment for players from any background to thrive. This by no means is to underestimate the team camaraderie prevalent at the time, but looking at how the team composition moved from being centred on a few schools in the early eighties to many outstation schools by 1996, this probably was the foundation. 

South Africa

Warnapura was part of the ‘Arosa Sri Lanka’ team which travelled to Apartheid-era South Africa during their International exile. Along with him was the cream of Nalanda cricket produced in the golden era of the 1970s, which was thus lost to Sri Lanka Cricket. That is Lalith Kaluperuma (33), Anura Ranasinghe (25), Hemantha Devapriya and Susantha Karunarathne, both aged 23, along with Bandula at the age of 29. That was the bulk of the painstaking work by Gerry Goonerathne, the Mendis brothers and Premasara Epasinghe, who were handling junior cricket. 

‘Bandu’, by this time, had not been enjoying a good relationship with the Cricket Board. His rebellious nature, not acting as a rebel but for the betterment of the game, was not to the liking of the authorities. His famous advice to young Arjuna Ranatunga (who was apparently approached to join the tour by Tony Opatha): “Podi Eka (small boy) don’t join this, you continue your cricket,” summarises his approach that it was not to harm the game of cricket in Sri Lanka but a desperate effort to look after oneself economically. 

Back to the Limelight

With the lifting of the ban on them in 1991, the younger players who he took under his wing left to pursue their dreams. Bandula himself went back to his favourite Bloomfield to captain the team at the age of 39, helping the club come back from relegation in 1992/93.

Warnapura later became an expert in coaching, curating, and cricket administration. He started as a manager of coaching and ended up becoming the Director of Operations of Sri Lanka Cricket. 

In addition to being an extraordinarily talented cricketer, Bandu was a visionary and benevolent leader of the people. May there be more rebels like Bandula Warnapura in the game of cricket and in the country as well.

Upul Gamage
Nalanda 50th Cricket Captain
Former President of Past Cricketers’ Association