Dunith Nethmika Wellalage is a professional cricketer from Sri Lanka who presently plays one-day international cricket for the national team. He was born on January 9, 2003, or January 9, 2003. It was in June of 2022 that he made his debut for the Sri Lanka cricket team on the international stage. Both St. Sebastian’s College in Moratuwa and St. Joseph’s College in Colombo 10 were his educational institutions of choice. He made his debut in the List A competition on December 14, 2019, while playing for Lankan Cricket Club in the Invitation Limited Over Tournament for the 2019–20 season.
The Jaffna Kings decided to sign him in July 2022 so that he may participate in the third season of the Lanka Premier League. Fortune Barishal, who participated in the tenth season of the Bangladesh Premier League, was another team that signed him. In January 2022, he was given the responsibility of leading Sri Lanka’s side to victory in the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, which would be held in the Dominican Republic. He went on to win the Player of the Match award after taking five wickets in the first match of the tournament, which Sri Lanka played.
After taking another five wickets in the second encounter of the tournament for Sri Lanka, he was once again awarded the player of the match with the highest number of wickets. The Super League playoff semi-final match between Sri Lanka and South Africa resulted in Sri Lanka’s victory by a score of 65 runs. Wellalage scored 113 runs throughout the clash. Within the context of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, he made history by being the first captain of the Sri Lankan side to hit a century. With seventeen wickets, he completed the Under-19 World Cup as the player with the most wickets taken.
The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) organization selected him to be a member of the Sri Lanka Emerging Team’s squad for their trip to England in April 2022. During the tour of England, which took place on May 25, 2022, he made his debut in the Twenty20 format against Surrey. After that, he was selected to be a part of the Sri Lanka A team for their matches against Australia A, which were scheduled to take place during Australia’s trip to Sri Lanka. Later on in the same month, he was selected to be a member of Sri Lanka’s One-Day International (ODI) team, which was also in preparation for their series against Australia.
Dunith Wellalage Biography
| Name | Dunith Wellalage |
| Full Name | Dunith Nethmika Wellalage |
| Date of Birth | January 9, 2003 |
| Place of Birth | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Other Names | NA |
| Nationality | Srilankan |
| Father’s Name | NA |
| Mother’s Name | NA |
| Siblings | NA |
| Spouse | NA |
| Marriage Date | NA |
| Children | NA |
| Role | Bowling |
| Batting | Left-handed |
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox |
| ODI Debut | June 14, 2022 vs. Australia |
| Test Debut | July 24, 2022 vs. Pakistan |
| T20 Debut | NA |
| Favourite Food | NA |
| Favourite Actor | NA |
| Favourite Actress | NA |
| Favourite Colour | Blue |
| Retirement | Still Playing |
He made his first appearance in a One-Day International (ODI) on June 14, 2022, when Sri Lanka played Australia. His inclusion in Sri Lanka’s Test team for the second match against Australia took place the following month. One more time, in July of 2022, he was selected for Sri Lanka’s Test team, this time for the series that they were playing at home against Pakistan. When Sri Lanka played Pakistan on July 24, 2022, he made his debut in a test match for the first time. The series against New Zealand was scheduled to take place in March 2023, and he was selected to be a member of the One Day International and Twenty20 International squads.
Dunith Wellalage, a left-arm spinning all-rounder, qualified for Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 World Cup team in 2024 even though he had never participated in a Twenty20 international before. Additionally, the 15-man squad includes the top-order hitter Kamindu Mendis as well as the round-arm seamer Nuwan Thushara. There are additional spots available for Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Dasun Shanaka, all of whom are members of the senior group.
Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been suffering from a heel ailment for a long time, was unable to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to focus on getting himself ready for the World Cup. The practice matches that are now taking place in Sri Lanka are where he has made his comeback to competitive cricket. He has batted in the first two matches, but he has not bowled in either of them. The selection of Wellalage was based more on his range of talents than on his performance in Twenty20 matches or his form.
He is not only able to bowl with exceptional left-arm spin, but he is also capable of hitting boundaries from further down the order, and he is also a great defender. In the context of a World Cup campaign, it is believed that the selectors considered him to be a useful utility player. Within the realm of international cricket, Wellalage has had a degree of success, the most notable of which was in a One-Day International match against India in 2023, during which he took five wickets.
Batting & Fielding Stats
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 1 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 18 | 14.50 | 47 | 61.70 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| ODIs | 21 | 17 | 4 | 223 | 42* | 17.15 | 313 | 71.24 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| FC | 28 | 37 | 5 | 866 | 78* | 27.06 | 1540 | 56.23 | 0 | 4 | 90 | 7 | 17 | 0 |
| List A | 57 | 48 | 10 | 895 | 74 | 23.55 | 1188 | 75.33 | 0 | 5 | 59 | 17 | 18 | 0 |
| T20s | 37 | 21 | 6 | 240 | 38* | 16.00 | 231 | 103.89 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 16 | 0 |
Bowling
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 1 | 2 | 78 | 35 | 0 | – | – | – | 2.69 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIs | 21 | 20 | 890 | 793 | 23 | 5/40 | 5/40 | 34.47 | 5.34 | 38.6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FC | 28 | 45 | 4420 | 2484 | 87 | 8/152 | 8/152 | 28.55 | 3.37 | 50.8 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| List A | 57 | 56 | 2617 | 2063 | 73 | 5/21 | 5/21 | 28.26 | 4.72 | 35.8 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| T20s | 37 | 31 | 586 | 685 | 34 | 4/10 | 4/10 | 20.14 | 7.01 | 17.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The opening batter Avishka Fernando, the left-arm seamer Binura Fernando, and the batter Kusal Perera are among the players who did not cut the selection. Thushara has outpaced Binura, who claimed five wickets for twenty and a hat-trick in his most recent international match. Avishka’s performance on the tour of Bangladesh in March was not particularly impressive, while Kusal Perera’s return after a lengthy injury layoff did not please selectors.
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, and Angelo Mathews are expected to comprise the top six in the batting order. This allows for some degree of predictability in the batting order. Regarding the spin department, they have Maheesh Theekshana and skipper Hasaranga as players who are likely to be their first choices. Hasaranga is also in a position to go up the list when it is necessary.
Kusal Mendis is now guiding the team in Dasun Shanaka’s absence on account of the injuries that have plagued the team that won the World Cup in 2011. The dismal defeat to Afghanistan has brought them to the verge of elimination, even though they had racked up a few victories to infuse some momentum after experiencing a terrible start to the competition. To this point in the tournament, Sri Lanka has made a significant number of adjustments to their team, and it is possible that things will not be much more steady when they face India.
