IND vs SL: Who Is Dunith Wellalage? Sri Lanka Spinner Who Decimated Indian Batting Unit In Asia Cup 2023

India and Sri Lanka are currently locking horns in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2023 at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The game so far has been all about young Sri Lanka spinner Dunith Wellalage, who has dismantled the Indian batting lineup.

Dunith Wellalage has spun the web around the Indian batting lineup and has made them look clueless. The left-arm orthodox bowler brought Sri Lanka back into the game after Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill stitched 80 runs for the opening partnership.

No one would’ve thought that Sri Lanka would make such a big comeback after the opening partnership by India. But Dunith Wellalage produced a magical spell that saw Indian wickets falling like a pack of cards on a surface, which assisted spinners.

Dunith Wellalage removed Shubman Gill first and then followed it with the wicket of Virat Kohli. If this was not enough he then went on to remove skipper Rohit Sharma along with KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. He ended with the figures of 5/40 in his 10 overs.

With him wreaking havoc across the Indian batting lineup, there have been many talks about who is Dunith Wellalage. Born in Colombo on January 9, 2003, the left-arm orthodox bowler completed his education at St. Joseph’s College in Colombo. He also captained the Sri Lanka U19 team in the last junior-level World Cup. He led from the front there as he picked up 17 wickets and also scored 264 runs.

The youngster, who made his first-class cricket debut in 2019, has so far played 25 games while picking up 80 wickets and scoring 772 runs. In the same year he also made his List-A debut and so far has played 36 matches while taking 46 wickets and scoring 533 runs.

His T20 cricket debut came in 2022 and after playing 27 matches in the format, he has bagged 22 wickets and has scored 201 runs. Also, in July 2022, he was signed by the Jaffna Kings for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL).

Dunith Wellalage made his debut for Sri Lanka against Australia in 2022 and so far in his career, he has picked 18 wickets in his international cricket. But his spell against India in the ongoing game would be one for ages. He has played one Test and 13 ODIs for his side and is yet to play T20I cricket for Sri Lanka.

IND vs SL: Dunith Wellalage becomes youngest to bag an ODI five-fer for Sri Lanka

Dunith Wellalage with his staggering effort against India became the youngest to bag an ODI five for Sri Lanka. He achieved the feat at the age of 20 years and 246 days, surpassing Charitha Buddhika.

Youngest to bag an ODI five-for Sri Lanka:

20y 246d – Dunith Wellalage vs IND, Colombo RPS, 2023
21y 65d – Charitha Buddhika vs ZIM, Sharjah, 2001
21y 141d – Thisara Perera vs IND, Dambulla, 2010

Apart from this, Dunith Wellalage became the third Sri Lanka bowler and only second spinner to pick five-wicket haul against India in Asia Cups. He joined Ajantha Mendis and Farveez Mahroof. He also became the third Sri Lanka spinner to pick a five-wicket haul after Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan.