Born in Kandy, Chamara Kantha Kapugedera was regarded as one of the brightest young talents to have come out of Sri Lanka in a long time. He was the first Sri Lankan national ODI cricketer to emerge from his school, the Dharmaraja College in Kandy, which is one of the leading schools in the island. He has captained all the junior school sides from the U-13 to the first XI. With the selectors willing to invest in young blood, he soon made his Test debut against England at Lord's in 2006, aged just 18. The match was not memorable for Kapugedera as he got out for a golden duck. He made his ODI debut soon after too, playing against Australia at Perth in 2006.
