The nitty gritty factor about the medium built lithe looking young Dunith Wellalage, just into his early prime age of 22 years, is the all keyed up spring in his step motion with the ball in his hand quick strike ability that has sunk powerhouses like India and Australia.
Indeed, it is this ominous body language rhythm in delivering in next to no time when in full flow into his element that has rendered Sri Lanka’s new found left arm spin prodigy a deadly act as he goes about sending back to the pavilion the world’s best of batsmen hitting it dead straight like a hunter with bow and arrow who never misses his target. Incidentally, he is an all left-hander taking strike with the bat too in a mold where the game has proved to produce great lefthanders where he has put such a double edge to good use.
That is just exactly what Dunith Wellalage wrought against the Indians and the Australians in a one after the other gallop in his career to overnight stardom.
It is further remarkable that he displayed those telling virtues a good 3 years ago in 2022 at age 19 with 9 wickets in his bag against Australia on his ODI debut for Sri Lanka, Wellalage made a remarkable entry into ODIs for Sri Lanka in 2022. Not only did he pick 9 wickets in a great 3-2 series triumph, he was onto his maiden 5-wicket strike against India in a typical all-round clanging of an unbeaten 42 in a lost cause as it was in the 2023 Asia Cup, the high point being that his valour eraned him the Player of the Match award.to go with an unbeaten 42.
The youngster’s first gold strike against the high riding Indians in 2022 was followed by yet another 2-0 ODI series winning effort in 2014 last year claiming the prize wickets of high riders Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in inflicting the giant side a humiliating defeat to a 2-0 series defeat.
Wellalage was to follow up that he was no flash in the pan when he broke the back of the mighty Australians whom he dismantled in a historic ODI home series triumph in February this year. His 4 for 35 in bundling out Australia for 107 was a piece of history in Sri Lanka inflicting the worst defeat on the Kangaroos in Asia by 174 runs. His 37 wickets from 29 ODIs is high stuff.
It was to largely signal his arrival as a potential all-rounder for Sri Lanka in the years to come.