February 17: Sri Lanka became Test playing nation
On this day in 1982, Sri Lanka played its first ever Test match and became the eighth Test cricket-playing nation in history. Sri Lanka played their first ever Test match against England at P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. With that,
Bandula Warnapura became the first Test captain for Sri Lanka.
Arjuna Ranatunga, Ashantha de Mel, Bandula Warnapura, Somachandra De Silva, Ajit de Silva, Mahes Goonatilleke, Duleep Mendis, Lalith Kaluperuma, Roy Dias, Ranjan Madugalle, and Sidath Wettimuny made their debuts in Test matches.
On this day in 2007, Sri Lankan middle-order batter Chamara Silva scored his first hundred in ODI matches. He scored an unbeaten 107 runs against India at Visakhapatnam. It’s recorded as Chamara Silva’s highest score in ODI matches.
