India's gritty come-from-behind victory against Sri Lanka on Tuesday earned them a spot in the Asia Cup 2023 final. (More Cricket News)
It also broke Sri Lanka's 13-match winning streak in one-day internationals (ODIs) — the second-longest streak in the history of the format.
But a sterling all-round performance from the 20-year-old Dunith Wellalage almost put paid to India’s plans. The left-arm spinner first scalped a five-wicket haul, and then stayed unbeaten on 42 to almost single-handedly keep the hosts in the contest.
Lauding Wellalage’s incredible performance, former India opener Gautam Gambhir called it an “India Vs Wellalage match”.
"For me, more than his bowling, his batting was exceptionally well done under pressure. Overall, nobody as young as 20 years has ever bowled this way against a strong team like this. Today, it was an India Vs Wellalage match," Gambhir said.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan too weighed in. “Man of the Match is someone who throughout the match shows his skills. Be it with bat or ball. Today, Wellalage faced daunting players with 30,000 runs, he dismissed top players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and with finesse.”
Irfan added: “Lastly, the final catch against Hardik Pandya was outstanding. He used such variations in skills and took complete advantage of all the existing conditions. Showing this at just the age of 20, against an Indian player who took 5 wickets in a single match, shows great promise.”
At the same time, Irfan praised India’s showing in the Asia Cup (matches can be viewed free on mobile on Disney + Hotstar) so far.
“It was an absolutely superb performance to watch today. India have secured two victories. The one against Pakistan was easy, and the other one was hard-fought against Sri Lanka. I think that when you fight so hard and then win, you become a much better team, you move forward by fixing your mistakes,” Irfan said.
“In that respect, Team India must be very happy. Now, the confidence of the fans in the upcoming World Cup will also be very noticeable,” he added.
