"Dunith Wellalage: The Name that Echoed in India's Super 4 Clash at Asia Cup, Conquering Kohli, Rohit, and Rahul"

Dunith Wellalage (L) of Sri Lanka celebrates with his teammates after dismissing Rohit Sharma, the captain of India.

Dunith Wellalage was not born when India and Sri Lanka shared the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002,

After Sri Lanka’s Dunith Wellalage managed to wrap a web around the powerful Indian batting order in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2023 on Tuesday, former England cricketer Dominic Cork declared on television, “Sri Lanka has shot India down,” In the tenth match of the Asia Cup, Team India had a flying start against the defending champions Sri Lanka less than twenty-four hours after crushing archrivals Pakistan in the rain-drenched matchup.

At the R Premadasa Stadium, veteran India captain Rohit had reached 10,000 runs and was on pace to smash Sri Lanka. Senior opener Rohit led the Virat Kohli-led Team India to 80-0 in the first 11 overs of the innings with the help of a strong Shubman Gill. Wellalage, a budding star for Sri Lanka, made his presence known by removing Gill with a superb delivery as Rohit’s team was expecting to score another huge total in the Asia Cup 2023.

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Against India, Dunith Wellalage directs Sri Lanka’s comeback.

Wellalage, who was introduced to the attack in the eleventh over, dismissed Gill for 19 on the first ball of his game-altering stint. In the fourteenth over, Kohli, who had just played a record-breaking innings against Pakistan, fell to Wellalage. Wellalage dismissed Kohli for 3 runs off 12 balls by taking a straightforward catch at midwicket from Sri Lanka’s captain Dasun Shanaka.

The 20-year-old claimed the match-winning wicket in the Super 4 game between India and Sri Lanka following the drinks interval. In the 16th over, Wellalage outwitted Rohit to help the defending Asia Cup champions turn things around. After Wellalage bowled a maiden and claimed three wickets while allowing just 4 runs in 3 overs, India went from 80-0 to 93-3 in 16 overs. In the 30th over, Wellalage dismissed KL Rahul for 39 after being re-initiated by captain Shanaka.

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Vital information about Dunith Wellalage

Wellalage made headlines with his bowling prowess in his 13th One Day International (ODI) appearance for the 1996 world champions, despite the fact that he was not even born when India and Sri Lanka shared the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002. At St. Joseph’s College in Colombo, the slow left-arm orthodox bowler and left-handed batter received his education. The left-arm orthodox bowler, who was born in Colombo on January 9, 2003, made his debut against Australia in 2022 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. In his extremely promising career, Wellalage has only participated in one Test match for Sri Lanka (against Pakistan). In international cricket, he has taken 16 wickets for Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka U-19 team’s U-19 World Cup captain was Wellalage. Wellalage’s campaign got off to a strong start with five-wicket performances against Scotland and Australia. The young Sri Lankan athlete was a standout at the U-19 World Cup. In the ICC match, he grabbed 17 wickets for Sri Lanka. The all-rounder finished the tournament as Sri Lanka’s leading scorer with 264 runs scored. At the U-19 World Cup, Wellalage crushed a half-century against Australia. However, the potential young player played a famous knock of 113 and returned figures of 1/29 against South Africa in the U-19 World Cup, which helped him improve his reputation. Three players, including Wellalage, joined the Sri Lankan team as stand-by players for the World Cup qualifiers.