Indrajith Bandaranayake

Indrajith Bandaranayake
SchoolDharmaraja College
Rugby union career
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1990 – 2005 Kandy SC ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
Sri Lanka
National sevens team
Years Team Comps
Sri Lanka

Indrajith Bandaranayake is a former Sri Lankan rugby union player and coach. He currently lives in Australia.[1]

Career

He pursued his primary and secondary education at the Dharmaraja College in Kandy. He also played for the Dharmaraja College rugby team for one season. After leaving the school, he pursued his career in rugby and joined the Kandy Sports Club in 1990.[2]

He was a crucial member of the Kandy SC club which went onto win the Clifford Cup for the first time in 1992 under the captaincy of Maurice Joachim.[3] He became the youngest ever captain to lead the Kandy Sports Club at the age of 24. Under his captaincy, Kandy SC won the Sri Lanka Rugby Championship title in 1994.[4]

He moved to Australia for personal reasons in 1996 and returned to Sri Lanka to play for Kandy Sports Club after a two year absence from the sport.[2] He also captained Sri Lankan national side at the Singapore Sevens in 1998.[2] He was once again appointed as the captain of Kandy SC in 2000 ahead of the Clifford Cup tournament which they won by defeating Sri Lanka Army Sports Club by 39 – 12 in the final.[2]

He also featured in Sri Lankan national squads at the Asian Rugby Championship in 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002.[5] He was a member of the Sri Lankan side which finished at sixth position in the men's rugby sevens competition at the 2002 Asian Games and was also part of the fifteen member Sri Lankan squad which competed in the men's rugby union competition at the 2002 Asian Games.[6] He retired from the sport in 2002 after being part of the Sri Lankan contingent at the 2002 Asian Games.[5]

Legacy

In September 2004, one of the terraces at Nittawela Rugby Stadium was named after Indrajith Bandaranayake and was declared open by the then Prime minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse.[7][4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rugby star Indrajith to migrate to Australia". archives.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Indrajith Bandaranayake was one of the finest wingers". Daily News. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Indrajith Bandaranayake athlete turned ruggerite". Daily News. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b Marikar, Hafiz. "Indrajith Bandaranayake was a superb winger". Daily News. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Indrajith Bandaranayake today's chief guest". archives.sundayobserver.lk. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Game Result". 22 June 2003. Archived from the original on 22 June 2003. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Online edition of Sunday Observer - Business". archives.sundayobserver.lk. Retrieved 30 November 2021.