Chants of “Wella, Wella” resounded within the R Premadasa Stadium where a near capacity crowd had turned up for the first time this Asia Cup. Over the phone Dunith Wellalage’s childhood friend HK Chamath Gimhana says he’s kicked himself for not turning up at the venue, having driven down to Pallekele 10 days back and being in attendance when Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh on Saturday.
Having stepped out for work in the afternoon, Gimahana missed seeing his friend Wellalage fox India’s star-studded batting line-up to record his maiden five-for. Now as Wellalage threatened to take the game away from India with the bat, Gimahana was glued to the television. Even at the stadium, nobody was willing to move. This was the time for superstitions and prayers. The capacity crowd was hoping for a turnaround after Sri Lanka were in trouble after bowling out India for 213. Wellalage made an unbeaten 42 off 46 balls but ran out of partners as Sri Lanka lost by 41 runs. With this allround performance; 42*, 5/40 and two catches, Wellalage was the standout performer for the team.
Having arrived at the crease with Sri Lanka struggling at 99/6, the 63-run partnership between Wellalage and Dhananya de Silva was turning into a headache for India. Despite having 213 on board, a total that seemed par on the slow pitch, a brief spell of rain before the end of India’s innings had altered the conditions a bit. The wet outfield and the arrival of dew meant India had to make early inroads, which they did. But with the ball beginning to get soft, Wellalage and Dhananjya were beginning to score easily. But a timely strike from Ravindra Jadejawho removed the latter meant India found the opening they desperately needed and from there on they closed down the game in no time.
Having captained Sri Lanka at the Under-19 World Cup held in the Caribbean last year, there is plenty of interest around Wellalage, the next big name coming out of the island. A very capable middle-order batsman, who can bowl left-arm slow, he is beginning to be a priceless asset for Sri Lanka.
In the country’s domestic circles, there is one note that is stuck on every team’s planning board: Do not underestimate Wella. Starting from his school cricket to age-group and domestic cricket, teams have paid the price for underestimating the diminutive Wellalage, who hails from Moratua, the same town that gave the world “Little Kallu.” or Romesh Kaluwitharana. It is the place where his dreams began that eventually brought him to Colombo’s famous St Joseph’s College.
☝ Shubman Gill
☝ Virat Kohli
☝ Rohit SharmaA stunning spell from Dunith Wellalage sees India’s top three back in the hut 🪄#INDvSL 📝: https://t.co/wrkCBdraLq pic.twitter.com/vOlTAJKSZT
— ICC (@ICC) September 12, 2023
“He is the most focussed guy in the class. He knows cricket is the way ahead for him and as a 15-year-old he played for the school’s first team (U-20). At that age, all of us will have some sort of fear, but Wella doesn’t know the meaning of fear,” Chamath told The Indian Express. It was at the school level, where Wellalage’s popularity and game began to grow. Having seen Wellalage at close quarters as both opposition coach and as part of his own team, Jehan Mubarak, the former Sri Lanka cricketer and current Under-19 coach, is not surprised by his latest star turn against India on Tuesday.
“Many of them tend to underestimate him by his frame and think he can be pushed over. When he is bowling, they try to attack him and when he is batting, they try to bounce him out. So he is used to that, and he never backs down. He has more maturity for his age and is a fighter to the core. He always wants to do well in tough situations and I’ve seen him do that many times against the school I coached,” Mubarak told The Indian Express.
On Tuesday, despite India getting off to a solid start, Wellalage was not going to be intimidated by big names. With the conditions aiding him, Wellalage just focused on hitting the right lengths. Off the first ball, he removed Shubman Gill by drawing him forward, beating him in flight and hitting the off-stump. In his second over, he got the prized wicket of Virat Kohliand off the next, he undid Rohit Sharma with an arm-ball. 80/1 in 11 overs became 91/3 at the star of the 15th.
Maturity beyond his years
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“From the Under-19 days to now, he has had a very seamless transition that everyone expected him to have. At this level, there is a lot of information being fed in from all quarters and it varies for each and every team he plays. But, he knows to filter them all and just pick what works for him.
“An experienced cricketer can do that, but for a 20-year-old to understand his game and pick only what suits his game makes him stand out from the pack. He is a mature player, who reads the game very well and has a lot of confidence in his ability. He knows how to use the skills he has and believes he can turn things around. If a 20-year-old is doing it, then even the senior players tend to step up. This is what he has been doing since age-group cricket,” Mubarak said.
With the top-order gone, the middle-order was continually choked by Wellalage. KL Rahul was the only batsman who appeared at ease against the Lankan spinners, using his feet and the crease to good effect before being undone by the two-pace nature of the pitch and giving a return catch to Wellalage. And when Hardik Pandya departed off the final ball of his 10th over, Wellalage had five wickets in the bag.
