Greatest left-arm spinner of pre-Test era Daya Sahabandu no more

Sri Lanka has lost one of its finest left-arm spin bowlers of the pre-Test era Daya Sahabandu who passed away at the age of 83 on Wednesday at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital, Kotte.

Sahabandu who was getting treatment for a heart ailment suddenly developed pneumonia and was admitted to hospital where he died.

‘Sahab’ or ‘Bandu’ as he was fondly known, was renowned for his accuracy. Anura Tennekoon, one of the captains who benefitted having him as a team member said, “I can rate him as a top class left-arm finger spinner who bowled with pinpoint accuracy. He could easily bowl six balls an over on one spot. He was not easy to get away and he played down on the batsmen’s patience. Bandu was more to himself. He was a good thinker of the game. He could simply tie up one end and make it difficult for the batsman to score off him which put pressure on the batsman and ultimately got him wickets. He didn’t have the ability to run through sides, because he didn’t turn the ball very much but his accuracy was his forte.”  

Sahabandu had this unique ability to bowl left-arm fast-medium and then switch to bowling left-arm spin making him a dual purpose bowler so useful to any captain.

Michael Tissera, another captain whom Sahabandu played under said, “He was a super left-arm bowler. As a bowler he was of tremendous value but as a fielder not so much. He was a great bowler who could bowl seam as well as spin. He wasn’t the fittest of players but once he got the ball into his hands he wanted to go on and on. He was such a good bowler we used him quite often. Bandu was a great bowler at a time when we had a lot of left-arm bowlers like Anuruddha Polonowita, Ajith de Silva and so many. They were all of different types. He could spin the ball quite a bit and was very accurate. He was a team player no doubt, but it was as a fielder you had to keep an eye on him because he tended to amble from one place to another. Really sorry that he is gone.”

Sahabandu was a student at Royal College, Colombo where he played in three Battle of the Blues cricket encounters in 1958, 1959 and 1960 taking 5/78 in the first year and 4/46 in the final year. From school he joined the Colombo Municipality as a playground instructor where he commenced his long-standing club career with Nomads SC. In 19½ years Sahabandu had the rare achievement of capturing 1,000 wickets (1048 at an average of 14.11) from 253 matches in domestic cricket.

Sahabandu made his international debut for Ceylon in 1969 against the MCC team led by Colin Cowdrey and helped his country register its first ever win against MCC (England) in a limited-over game. His last international match was in 1975 when he toured India. One of his most cherished performances on that tour was to bat for over 5½ hours as nightwatchman to save his team from defeat. Sahabandu (32) and Tony Opatha (61) put on a match saving stand of 75 for the seventh wicket, defying the wiles of the world’s best spin trio of Chandrasekhar, Bedi and Prasanna.

After retiring from the game Sahabandu coached Royal College 2nd eleven and later St. Joseph’s College. He is survived by his wife Swarna and son Janaka. His remains lie at Jayaratne funeral parlour. Cremation will take place at Jawatte cemetery at 6 p.m. today.  

– (ST)