Mahinda Aluwihara, an alumnus of St. Sylvester's College, in Kandy, excelled in multiple sports including football, basketball, athletics, hockey, and boxing. He captained his school's soccer and basketball teams and competed as a sprinter in short-distance events at the Central Province Group meet. Mahinda participated in numerous inter-school football tournaments with Combined School XI. His brother, Ratnapala Aluwihara, was also a national footballer.[1]
Club career
Mahinda joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force in 1961 and began representing its football team in various tournaments. Prior to that, he plied his trade with different Kandy-based clubs, including Young Wanders Sports Club.[2][3] Mahinda led Ceylon Air Force to become the inter-service football champions in 1966, a title they had won for ten consecutive years.[1][4] Mahinda, known for his long-range free kicks, led numerous clubs from Kandy to gain the upper hand over star-studded teams from Colombo in inter-club competitions. At domestic level, he played mainly as a central midfielder, in contrast to his more attacking role in the national team.[5]
International career
His first international tour came with the Ceylon U19 team at the 1961 AFC Youth Championship held in Thailand. In the same year, Mahinda played for the Ceylon national team beside his brother Ratnapala Aluwihara at the first Southern Football Pentangular Tournament in Bangalore under the captaincy of C.S. Fernando.[1]
On 28 February 1965, Mahinda was instrumental in Ceylon's first international victory on home soil, defeating Pakistan 3–1 in Colombo. The team under the captaincy of M.M. Hassimdeen, was considered to be one of the best in the country's football history. In 1968, he was part of the team that finished runners-up at the Aga Khan Gold Cup held in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The team captained by A. Zainulabdeen, lost the final 1–5 to Dhaka Mohammedan.[1]
Mahinda captained Ceylon when they hosted the Southern Pentangular tournament in 1967. They finished runners-up in the tournament, losing 0–1 to Mysore football team.[6] He was again appointed captain of the national team during their European tour in 1968. The team also included the likes of M.M. Hassimdeen, Subhani Hassimdeen, Lionel Peiris and P.D. Sirisena, to name a few.[7] He also featured in the 1968 Summer Olympics qualifiers over two legs against Israel.[8]
