Who is Dunith Wellalage, the new Sri Lankan spin-bowling sensation

Dunith Wellalage, who outfoxed Indian batters like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Hardik Pandya during the Super-four game in the Aisa Cup 2023 is the new spin bowling sensation from Pearl of the Orient. The left-arm spinner became the first spinner to take all of the first four wickets against India in an ODI match. On his 13th ODI game, the 20-year-old spinner announced himself as one of the great young spinners to watch out for. He finished with a bowling figure of 40/5 in his full quota of 10 overs at the R.Premadasa Stadium.

Born on January 09, 2003, in Colombo, Dunith Wellalage debuted for Sri Lanka in the ODI format on 14 June 2022 against Australia at Pallekele. And, he then, went on to make his test debut on 24 July 2022 against the same opponent at the same venue. Although, he had wait to till his 13th ODI to announce himself on the biggest stage of cricket.

Dunith Wellalage was the Highest wicket-taker of ICC U19 World Cup 2022

However, to track Dunith Wellalage's career, we have to go back to the 2022 ICC U1-9 Cricket World Cup. The Sri Lankan left-arm spinner made his name at the U-19 World Cup picking up 17 wickets in 6 innings at just a 13.58 bowling average. He outfoxed everyone with his variations to become the highest wicket-taker of the ICC U-19 World Cup in West Indies. Although he could not take Sri Lanka into the semi-final of the tournament as the captain, Dunith Wellalage was the one who made a name for himself in that tournament

Read Also: Player of the tournament in every ICC U19 World Cup

Dunith Wellalage outfoxed Aussie batters grabbing 9 wickets in his first ODI series

After impressing everyone at the ICC U-19 World Cup, Dunith was called in for the home series against Sri Lanka where he made a smooth transition against Australia. Wellalage took 9 wickets in the five-match ODI series against Australia grabbing wickets of players like Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh. Although he went wicketless during Sri Lanka's tour to India at the start of 2023, Sri Lanka kept faith in him.

Dunith Wellalage started the Asia Cup 2023 on a great note with four wickets in three games before getting his first five-for against India at the R.Premadasa Stadium. Till now in his 13 ODI games, Wellalage has taken 18 wickets at a bowling average of 24.16. Along with that, he is also a handy batter. He averages 20.71 with the bat for Sri Lanka in ODIs. He remained not out on 31 from 21 balls while Charith Asalanka's 83 from 72 balls helped Sri Lanka win in a record chase of 314 runs against Afghanistan in 2022.