Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Pramod Bhanuka Bandara Rajapaksa, (born 24 October 1991), popularly known as Bhanuka Rajapaksa, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays limited over internationals for the national team. He is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium.[1] He was born in Colombo. Despite a prolific domestic career, Rajapaksa only made his international debut when he was called up for the T20I series against Pakistan in 2019, ten years after his first-class debut.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Personal information
Full name
Pramod Bhanuka Bandara Rajapaksa
Born (1991-10-24) 24 October 1991
Colombo, Sri Lanka
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleTop-order batter
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 201)18 July 2021 v India
Last ODI4 September 2021 v South Africa
T20I debut (cap 83)5 October 2019 v Pakistan
Last T20I5 January 2023 v India
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2009/10Barisal Division
2009/10Sinhalese Sports Club
2019/20Cumilla Warriors
2020Khulna Tigers
2022Punjab Kings
2023Peshawar Zalmi
2023Galle Titans
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 5 35 77 120
Runs scored 89 666 4,087 2,842
Batting average 17.80 25.61 36.49 27.86
100s/50s 0/1 0/3 9/21 3/16
Top score 65 77 268 107
Balls bowled – – 2,514 618
Wickets – – 47 15
Bowling average – – 29.06 31.60
5 wickets in innings – – 0 0
10 wickets in match – – 0 0
Best bowling – – 4/59 2/16
Catches/stumpings 0/– 7/– 66/– 47/2
Source: Cricinfo, 5 January 2023

In July 2021, he was given a suspended ban from all forms of cricket for one year by the Sri Lanka Cricket for breach of contract and for not gaining required permission from SLC to give media interviews.[2][3][4]

Early career

Rajapaksa began his cricket career as a student of Royal College Colombo. He was a key player in the Royal College team as both a batsman as well as a dependable medium pace bowler. His other sporting interests include squash and swimming.

Rajapaksa was selected for the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand as a batsman. He finished as the leading run-scorer for Sri Lanka in the tournament with 253 runs. He had an excellent tour of Australia with the U19 team in 2009, smashing 154 off 111 balls in the second U19 ODI, and ending the series as the leading run-scorer.[5][6] He compares his batting style to Adam Gilchrist. His score of 154* is the second-highest individual score for Sri Lanka in U19 ODI cricket. Rajapaksa was the first Sri Lankan U19 cricketer to score 150 in a U19 ODI innings.[7] He was also the first Sri Lankan U19 player to amass 1000 Youth ODI runs.[8]

In 2011, Bhanuka became only the fourth [9] individual to be adjudged as the 'Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' twice in the country's premier school sector awarding ceremony, the Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year. He was also adjudged the Young Emerging Player of the Under 19 Category at the CEAT Sri Lanka Cricket Awards 2011.

Domestic and T20 franchise career

In domestic cricket, Rajapaksa initially represented the Sinhalese Sports Club in Sri Lankan domestic cricket and has also played for Barisal Blazers in Bangladesh's NCL T20 Bangladesh.[10]

In April 2018, he was named in Galle's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[11] In August 2018, he was named in Kandy's squad the 2018 SLC T20 League.[12] In March 2019, he was named in Dambulla's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[13]

During 2019 Premier season, Rajapaksa scored a career high 268 in 173 balls vs Ports Authorities for BRC at Moors Grounds, hitting 19 sixes and 22 fours in the innings. During Sri Lanka A's tour of India in 2019, in the second unofficial test vs India A, Rajapaksa scored 110 runs in 112 balls with 17 fours and 3 sixes at KSCA grounds, Hubli.

In October 2020, he was drafted by the Galle Gladiators for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.[14] In August 2021, he was named in the SLC Greys team for the 2021 SLC Invitational T20 League tournament.[15] In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Galle Gladiators following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.[16]

In February 2022, he was bought by the Punjab Kings in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.[17] In July 2022, he was signed by the Dambulla Giants for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League.[18]

In February 2023, Rajapaksa made his Pakistan Super League debut with Peshawar Zalmi. [19][20]

International career

In September 2019, he was named in Sri Lanka's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for the series against Pakistan in Pakistan.[21] He made his T20I debut for Sri Lanka against Pakistan on 5 October 2019, scoring 32 runs off 22 balls in a 64 run victory.[22][23] In the second match, Rajapaksa scored 77 runs off 48 balls as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 35 runs. He was adjudged the player of the match for his batting performance.[24]

In July 2021, he was named in Sri Lanka's squad for their series against India.[25] He made his One Day International (ODI) debut on 18 July 2021, for Sri Lanka against India.[26] In September 2021, Rajapaksa was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[27]

On 5 January 2022, Rajapaksa announced his international retirement at the age of 30 in a letter written to the SLC which cited:.[28][29] "I have very carefully considered my position as a player, husband and am taking this decision looking forward to fatherhood and associated familial obligations,".[30][31] However, on 13 January 2022, he withdrew retirement letter at a request of sports minister.[32][33][34]

In June 2022, he was named for the ODI series against Australia.[35] During the 2022 Asia Cup, Rajapaksa made several match winning knocks against Afghanistan twice and India. In the opening match, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 105 runs where Rajapaksa was the top scorer for Sri Lanka with 38 runs.[36] However, Sri Lanka lost the match by 8 wickets.[37] In the Super 4 stage, Sri Lanka met Afghanistan again, but won the match this time by 4 wickets. In the steep chase of 175 posted by Afghans, Rajapaksa hammered 14-ball 31 runs and made 15-ball 32 run partnership with Danushka Gunathilake. The chase of 176 also recorded as the highest T20I chase at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.[38] In the final against Pakistan, Sri Lanka batted first and restricted to 58/5 in 8.5 overs. However, Rajapaksa made two match-winning partnerships with Wanindu Hasaranga (58-runs) and Chamika Karunaratne (unbeaten 54 runs), where Sri Lanka posted 170 runs.[39] Sri Lanka eventually won the match and became sixth time Asia Cup champions. Rajapaksa was adjudged player of the match for his performance.[40] His unbeaten innings of 71 is also recorded as the highest individual score while batting at No. 5 or lower in a men's T20I knockout game.[41]

Controversy

After being left out for the West Indies tour and England tour in 2021, Rajapaksa expressed his disappointment over being dropped from the side based on fitness standards. In a YouTube interview, he criticized the Sri Lankan selectors and Sri Lanka cricket authorities for being inconsistent with their policies and insisted that the priority should be given to the on field performances of players instead of fitness levels of players.[42][43] However, Sri Lanka cricket head coach Mickey Arthur criticized Rajapaksa calling him a "comfort zone cricketer" on the field and revealed that he has failed to comply with the skin fold tests in order to fulfill the required fitness levels to play in international cricket matches.[44][45]

Personal life

Rajapaksa is married to his long time partner Sandrine Perera, where the wedding was celebrated on 5 April 2021.[46][47][48]

References
  1. "Five lesser-known Sri Lanka players who can make a difference against India". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  2. "Bhanuka Rajapaksa penalized for breach of contract". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. "Bhanuka Rajapaksa gets suspended one-year ban, fined for breaching player contract". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. "Bhanuka Rajapaksa, guilty for breaching Players Contract, handed one-year ban by SLC". CricTracker. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. "2nd Youth ODI: Australia Under-19s v Sri Lanka Under-19s at Darwin, Oct 4, 2009 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  6. "Maddinson ton in vain as Sri Lanka triumph". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  7. "Cricket Records | Records | Sri Lanka Under-19s | Under-19s Youth One-Day Internationals | High scores | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  8. "Sri Lanka Under-19s Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  9. "Sri Lanka Sports News | Sundayobserver.lk". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  10. Teams Bhanuka Rajapaksa played for
  11. "SLC Super Provincial 50 over tournament squads and fixtures". The Papare. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  12. "SLC T20 League 2018 squads finalized". The Papare. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  13. "Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament". The Papare. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  14. "Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shahid Afridi among big names taken at LPL draft". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  15. "Sri Lanka Cricket announce Invitational T20 squads and schedule". The Papare. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  16. "Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews miss out on LPL drafts". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  17. "IPL 2022 auction: The list of sold and unsold players". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  18. "LPL 2022 draft: Kandy Falcons sign Hasaranga; Rajapaksa to turn out for Dambulla Giants". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  19. https://peshawarzalmi.com/team/rajapaksa
  20. "Hasaranga, Neesham, Rajapaksa, Rashid, Shamsi and Wade to make HBL PSL debut in 2023". www.pcb.com.pk. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  21. "Sri Lanka ODI and T20I Squads for Pakistan tour". Sri Lanka Cricket. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  22. "1st T20I (N), Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan at Lahore, Oct 5 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  23. "Danushka Gunathilaka, Nuwan Pradeep help second-string Sri Lanka rout No. 1 ranked Pakistan". Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  24. "Hasaranga, Rajapaksa star as Sri Lanka spring another surprise on Pakistan". Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  25. "Bhanuka Rajapaksa picked for India ODIs, T20Is; Kumara, Rajitha return from injuries". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  26. "1st ODI (D/N), Colombo (RPS), Jul 18 2021, India tour of Sri Lanka". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  27. "Theekshana and Rajapaksa surprise picks in Sri Lanka's T20 World Cup squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  28. "Cricketer Bhanuka Rajapaksa (30) hands over resignation letter". NewsWire. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  29. "Bhanuka Rajapaksa informed hie resignation". Sri Lanka Cricket. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  30. "Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa retires from international cricket". Island Cricket. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  31. "Lasith Malinga makes request from Bhanuka Rajapaksa". Island Cricket. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  32. "Bhanuka Rajapaksa withdraws retirement letter". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  33. "Bhanuka Rajapaksa takes back retirement decision". CricTracker. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  34. "Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa makes U-turn, withdraws decision to retire from international cricket". India Today. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  35. "Gunathilaka, Rajapaksa, Dickwella back in Sri Lanka's ODI squad for Australia series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  36. "Farooqi and spinners set up Afghanistan's rout of Sri Lanka". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  37. "Shanaka questions batters' preparation after demoralising loss to Afghanistan". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  38. "Rajapaksa and Gunathilaka's ice-cool hitting wins it for Sri Lanka". ESPNcricinfo. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  39. "How the Hasaranga-Rajapaksa stand snatched the momentum from Pakistan". ESPNcricinfo. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  40. "Rajapaksa, Hasaranga, Madushan win the Asia Cup crown for Sri Lanka". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  41. "Stats - A rare bat-first win in Dubai, and Sri Lanka's remarkable comeback". ESPNcricinfo. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  42. "Rajapaksa highlights inconsistency of local cricket authorities". Nation Online. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  43. Nadeera, Dilshan (10 June 2021). "Bhanuka Rajapaksa outburst and possible repercussions". Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  44. Weerasooriya, Sahan (June 2021). "I don't like sloppy cricketers – Arthur". Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  45. Chaurasia, Ayush (2 June 2021). ""His excuse has been that he loves chocolates"- Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur lashes out at Bhanuka Rajapaksa". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  46. "Popular cricketer Bhanuka Rajapaksa married - Bhanuka Rajapaksha - Hiru Gossip, Lanka Gossip News". gossip.hirufm.lk (in Sinhala). Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  47. "Cricketer Bhanuka Rajapaksa married - Siyatha 24Siyatha 24". Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  48. "Happy wedding to Bhanuka !!!". batsman. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
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