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Dunith Wellalage (C) was a top performer for Sri Lanka against India in Asia Cup 2023© X (formerly Twitter)
It has been an interesting week for Sri Lanka spinner Dunith Wellalage. During Sri Lanka’s group stage match against Afghanistan, the 20-year-old was on the receiving end of a Rashid Khan onslaught that almost knocked his side out of the competition. Wellalage ended up conceding three boundaries in 4 balls and it took the late heroics from teammate Dhananjaya de Silva to salvage the game for Sri Lanka. However, it looks like he was able to put that all in the past as he produced a sensational bowling display against India on Tuesday. He dismissed Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to leave the India top-order in tatters and followed it up with Hardik Pandya to complete his five-wicket haul.
The youngster was born in Colombo and completed his education from St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. He was a regular for his college cricket team and he went on to make his List A debut for for Lankan Cricket Club in the 2019–20 Invitation Limited Over Tournament.
Wellalage’s all-round performances caught the eye of selectors and after playing a few games, he was made the Sri Lanka U-19 captain for the 2022 ICC U-19 World Cup.
The tournament proved to be the turning point in his career as he impressed both fans and experts with his all-round prowess. With 17 wickets, he finished the World Cup as the highest wicket-taker and he even impressed with the bat as he was the top-scorer for Sri Lanka with 264 runs in 6 matches.
The performance made him a well-known name in the cricketing circles and he went on to make his ODI debut against Australia in June 2022.
Next month, he was included in the Test squad as well and he played his first game against Pakistan. The spinner also found successful in the Lanka Premier League as he joined the anks of Jaffna Kings.
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