Bhanuka Rajapaksa retirement: Has Rajapaksa IPL player for PBKS retired from international cricket?

Bhanuka Rajapaksa retirement: The Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batter had announced international retirement earlier this year.

During the eighth match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Punjab Kings wicket-keeper batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa chipped in with a crucial contribution for the second time in a row in his maiden season.

Coming in to bat at No. 3 in the second over, getting his eyes in was the least of Rajapaksa’s priorities as he hit his first Tim Southee delivery over the cover region for a boundary.

Having also hit his second ball for a boundary in the following Umesh Yadav over, Rajapaksa welcomed Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Shivam Mavi into the attack in the most brutal possible manner.

A four off the first delivery was followed by as many as three consecutive sixes as the right-arm bowler looked clueless tonight. Mavi eventually had the last laugh by dismissing Rajapaksa in the same over but the same only happened after the left-handed batter scored a stroke-filled 31 (9) comprising of three fours and sixes each at a strike rate of 344.44.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa retirement

For the unversed, it is worth a mention that Rajapaksa had announced his international retirement earlier this year. A change made to judge the fitness criteria of a player by SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) was the reason behind the 30-year old player opting out of international cricket.

Following suggestions to reconsider his decision by many prominent Sri Lankan names including former captain Lasith Malinga, Rajapaksa withdrew his resignation only to not be considered for the subsequent tour of India.

Having scored 74 in two IPL 2022 innings at a strike rate of 238.70, Rajapaksa couldn’t have pressed his case for a national recall in a better manner. While fitness standards can surely be improved, Rajapaksa’s potential has it in it to aid an already struggling Sri Lankan team.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa IPL 2022 auction

In what is his maiden IPL season, Punjab had bought Rajapaksa for his base price of INR 50 lakh during the mega auction held in Bengaluru earlier this year.