Sri Lankan cricketer Dunith Wellalage faced personal tragedy on Thursday, September 18, as his father, Suranga Wellalage, passed away. The heartbreaking news came on the same day Dunith was representing Sri Lanka in their Asia Cup Group B clash against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
News Reached After the Match
Wellalage, aged 22, only learned about his father’s passing after the match had concluded. Sri Lanka secured a six-wicket win with eight balls remaining, confirming their spot in the Super Four stage. Immediately after the game, the young allrounder departed for home to be with his family.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕, 𝒂𝒔 𝑫𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.
Future in Asia Cup Uncertain
The bereavement has cast uncertainty over Wellalage’s participation in the rest of the Asia Cup 2025, where Sri Lanka are scheduled to play at least three more fixtures:
- Against Bangladesh on September 20
- Against Pakistan on September 23
- Against India on September 26
Rising Career Cut Short by Tragedy
The Afghanistan game marked Wellalage’s fifth T20I appearance, and his first in this year’s Asia Cup. The left-arm spinner has also played 31 ODIs, with notable performances including:
- A career-best 5 for 27 vs India in Colombo (August 2024)
- Another 5 for 40 vs India during the 2023 Asia Cup in ODI format, where he finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 10 scalps at an average of 17.90.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒓𝒊 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒂’𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔,” 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅.
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