Could Wellalage be next Ravindra Jadeja?

By Harsha Amarasinghe 

Despite the 2-0 thrashing at the hands of Sri Lanka, there is no doubt that team India has been the most dominant force in world cricket in the last decade and they topped it off when they lifted the T20 World Cup held in the USA and the West Indies recently. 

While the big names such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah have been continuously highlighted for their contributions, one of the most underrated cricketers in the modern game is Ravindra Jadeja. 

His contributions with the bat and ball for India in all forms of cricket, has been truly magnificent while he is currently probably the best fielder in the world as well. 

Dunith Wellalage who was the Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded bi-lateral series between Sri Lanka and India, has shown the potential to reach the levels of Jadeja. 

Wellalage scored 108 runs in three games batting at number seven in crucial phases of the games when he ran out of partners stretching Sri Lanka’s score beyond 200. 

He showcased his maturity in anchoring an innings and his shot-selection against the spinners in particular was really impressive. In the recent times, the way Sri Lanka middle order was batting if not for Wellalage they wouldn’t have crossed the 200-run mark at least once. 

Then, his contributions with the ball, was even more impactful as he took seven wickets in three games including a five-fer in the final match.

The 21-year-old has also shown his ability to handle media and fans as well. He has maintained himself with absolute class so far in his career. 

From the days of Under-19 cricket, it was clear that Wellalage was meant for big things and the Sri Lankan fans must be thrilled that he is living upto the expectations but it’s important that he keeps his feet on the ground unlike some of his teammates.  

Fernando making most of opportunity 
Asitha Fernando is Sri Lanka’s spearhead in Test cricket without a doubt but he wasn’t quite involved in the limited over set up with the likes of Matheesha Pathirana, Dushmantha Chameera and more recently Nuwan Thushara, but he did make a significant impact although he didn’t take a lot of wickets.  His fearless approach to bowling and taking the game to the likes of Kohli and Rohit was impressive. In the opportunity he was given he showed that he is a dependable bowlers in ODI cricket as well.