‘Aaj meri nirasha ki joi seema nahi’ – Fans go crazy as Dunith Wellalage rattles Team India with 5-fer in Asia Cup 2023

On 12 September 2023, India locked horns with Sri Lanka in the ‘Super 4’ clash of the ongoing Asia Cup in Colombo. After registering a thumping 238-run victory over Pakistan on 11 September, the Men in Blue were looking for another win. Speaking of the match, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat.

Rohit and Shubman Gill were coming off with good form with the bat against Pakistan. Both scored fifties and put up a 121-run partnership. However, they gave another solid start to the team as the Men in Blue were on 80 runs for no loss in 11 overs. Then, Sri Lanka skipper, Dasun Shanaka brought Dunith Wellalage into the action.

Maiden Five-wicket haul for Dunith Wellalage

The left-arm spinner performed well in the first three matches as he picked up four wickets and scored vital 36 runs with the bat. So, Shanaka showed his faith once again and Wellalage proved him right with the wicket of Shubman Gill on his first delivery of the match. Gill completely missed the ball while looking for a clip to mid-on. The ball turned a bit from the middle stump and hit the off stump to dismiss the batter. Gill scored 19 runs off 25 balls. After that, On the fifth delivery of his second over, he took the wicket of Virat Kohli who scored just three runs off 12 balls.

Kohli tried to whip the ball to the leg side but it stuck a bit on the pitch. He played the shot early and managed to give a simple catch to Shanaka at short mid-wicket. Then, Rohit Sharma was also looking set after scoring another fifty for a big century but Wellage dismissed him on the first delivery of his third over. Rohit got out for 53 runs as the Lankan spinner disturbed his furniture. Then, he came back for his second spell and took the wicket of KL Rahul for 39 runs. On the last delivery of his 10th over, he took the wicket of Hardik Pandya who scored just five runs and registered his maiden fifer in ODIs. Finally, his spell ended with five wickets for 40 runs in 10 overs.

Here is how fans have reacted:

https://twitter.com/relatewithfiza/status/1701548451274883268

https://twitter.com/izishan7/status/1701547804374790293