Pramod Bhanuka Bandara Rajapaksa, popularly known as Bhanuka Rajapaksa is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays for Sri Lanka. He is a pocket-sized dynamo, he idolises Adam Gilchrist and has modelled his game around the Australian. Unlike Gilchrist, Rajapaksa emerged from the U-19 World Cup, as he was part of the Sri Lankan youth team during the global event in 2010.

Born in Colombo, the wicket-keeper first stamped himself when he had an excellent tour of Australia in 2009 - smashing 154 off 111 balls in a Youth ODI and ending the series as the leading run-getter- from where the comparison with Gilchrist began. The southpaw made his List A and T20 debuts in 2009, while his First-Class debut came in 2011. During his domestic debuts, Rajapaksa won the 'Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' award, while the 'Young emerging U19 Player' came in the following year.

However, the left-hander had to go through the grind in domestic cricket, as he made his international debut in 2019, in a T20I clash against Pakistan at Lahore. He announced himself by smacking 77 off just 48 deliveries in the second game of that series, where he showcased his all-round stroke play. The southpaw then toured Australia to have a mediocre T20I series. 

In 2021, Rajapaksa was fined $5000 and handed a two-year ban for a breach of contract, having been handed a one-year ban as a suspended sentence. He criticised the Sri Lankan selectors for being inconsistent with their policies, as the authorities dropped the cricketer from the tour of England. However, the national selectors changed the decision and named the player in the home series against India. 

The Colombo-born made his ODI debut against India at his home ground, in July that year. The southpaw batted at number three and performed reasonably well during the ODI and T20I series. In the hard transition times, Rajapaksa has shown a lot of promise in his comeback and would look to cement himself and help Sri Lankan Cricket in the upcoming ICC events.

(As of August 2021)