Dunith Wellal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dunith Wellalage

• Dunith Wellalage is a Sri Lankan cricketer who became popular after taking a 5-wicket haul against India in the 2023 Asia Cup. He also served as the captain of the Sri Lanka Under-19 team during the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup.

• When he saw his father’s trophies during his childhood, he became interested in cricket. He later began playing for his school teams and eventually pursued a career as a professional cricketer.

• During his school years, Wellalage represented several teams, including St. Sebastian’s Under-13, St. Sebastian’s Under-15, St. Joseph’s Under-15, and St. Joseph’s Under-19. He delivered impressive performances in these teams. Wellalage made his first-class debut on 9 May 2019, playing for Lankan Cricket Club against Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club, where he took 5 wickets in the match.

  

• He made his List A debut on 14 December 2019, while representing Lankan Cricket Club against Sinhalese Sports Club, where he took 1 wicket in the match. In a first-class match, he achieved 8 wickets for 152 runs, and in a List-A match, he claimed an impressive 5 wickets for just 21 runs.

  

• Wellalage served as the captain of the Sri Lanka Under-19 team in the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. During the tournament, he achieved two 5-wicket hauls and emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets. He was the highest run-scorer for his team, amassing 264 runs; he scored 113 runs in a playoff semifinal match against South Africa.

  

• He was part of the Sri Lanka Emerging Team (also known as Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI) during their tour to England in April 2022. On 25 May 2022, he made his T20 debut against Surrey, scoring 1 run and conceding 14 runs without taking a wicket. He also represented Sri Lanka A during the series against Australia A in 2022.

  

• In his debut test match, he conceded 35 runs without taking any wickets. He also contributed 11 runs in the first innings and 18 runs in the second innings with the bat.

  

• In his debut ODI match, he took 2 wickets for 49 runs. In the 5-match ODI series against Australia in 2022, he emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 9 wickets. On 12 September 2023, during the Super-4 match against India, he achieved his first-ever 5-wicket haul by taking 5 wickets for 40 runs. In the same match, he also made a valuable contribution with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 42 runs. His outstanding performance earned him his first ODI Man of the Match award.

  

• During the 3rd edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2022, Wellalage was signed by Jaffna Kings in the Diamond B group for $25,000 (approx. LKR 9 million).

  

• In June 2023, Wellalage joined the management company, Field Power Sports. He has a contract with KG Cricket, which supplies him with all his cricket accessories. ^[3]Instagram – Dunith Wellalage

  

• Following his first ODI Man of the Match award in the 2023 Asia Cup against India, Wellalage showed his respect by touching Virat Kohli‘s feet. He also expressed that Kohli was like a god to him.