IND vs SL: Who Is Dunith Wellalage - 20-Year-Old Sri Lanka Spinner Who Rattled India's Top Order

Tuesday's Asia Cup 2023 Super Four match at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo saw Dinuth Wellalage get his first five-wicket haul for Sri Lanka in One-Day International cricket. Wellalage dismissed India's Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and KL Rahul.

India's quick start was halted by the 20-year-old left-arm spinner, who removed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill in three overs. After taking out KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya, he finished his maiden ODI four.

In just 11 overs, India had raced to 80 for no loss when Wellalage joined the fray. He pitched it on leg and uprooted Gill's off stump to finish him out with his first ball.

The next to fall was Kohli, who made a simple catch at short midwicket. The next over, Rohit was out because the ball didn't spin and stayed low enough to rattle the stumps.

After a Sri Lanka DRS review, it was confirmed that he had accepted a return catch off KL Rahul and nicked off Hardik to the wicket keeper during his second spell.

The expulsion of Gill was indicative of the left-armer's ability to turn the ball square off the surface on a slow-turning pitch. Additionally, he skillfully used his arm ball to reject Rohit off a straighter one that didn't bounce.

Wellalage first gained notoriety as Sri Lanka's captain at the 2022 U19 World Cup. Throughout the competition, he made contributions with both the bat and the ball, finishing as the top wicket taker.

Over the competition, he took 17 wickets at an outstanding average of 13.58 in six matches. He finished as Sri Lanka's leading run scorer with 264 runs at an average of 44 during the tournament.

June 2022, at Pallekele, the youthful spinner's ODI debut against Australia saw him take two wickets in a two-wicket defeat.

In July 2022, he participated in a single test match for his nation in Galle against Pakistan.