Dunith Wellalage was outstanding in the first ODI against India at Colombo to take home a fully deserved title of Player of the Match. Only 21 years old, Wellalage played an important unbeaten 67 off 65 when Sri Lanka were in a difficult position at 142/6. His knock paved the way for his side towards the target as 230 seemed way out of grasp.

Dunith Wellalage played compactly and batted with a lot of strategy under pressure to ensure that Sri Lanka breached the 200-run mark, hence giving themselves an actual chance at the contest. The youngster’s influence did not stop here. When India began the chase, Wellalage became one of the mainstays with the ball and scalped crucial wickets of Shubman Gill and the in-form Rohit Sharma.

In reply, Rohit Sharma, who had been making a charge with a brisk 58, was pivotal to India’s hopes, but the Indian captain’s dismissal by Wellalage shifted the momentum back to the hosts. His breaking of crucial partnerships kept India on the back foot, which finally ended in a thrilling tie.

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He credited his inspiration to Pathum Nissanka during the post-match interview, who had anchored the innings earlier with 56 runs. Wellalage conceded the strong Indian bowling attack but insisted they needed to reduce their mistakes as much as possible, and when given the opportunity, they could apply pressure on their opponents. He said he had worked a lot on building those key partnerships, and it worked out really well.

“They have a lot of experienced bowlers, so the more we can limit our mistakes, the more we can put pressure on them. I was watching Pathum Nissanka bat quite a lot. I put his batting in my mind as I came up with a plan,” Dunith Wellalage told ESPNcricinfo.

The other important tip, Wellalage revealed, came from the Sri Lankan captain, Charith Asalanka, when bowling in the powerplay. Knowing how the pitch played, particularly helping out spinners, he had premeditated bowling straight and hitting the stumps, as it worked against Rohit Sharma.

“We knew that the wicket was spinning. So Charith Asalanka had told me that I would be bowling in the powerplay. I had good support from the wicket too. With Rohit at the time, I was trying just to bowl wicket-to-wicket, because I knew how much assistance there was from the pitch,” Dunith Wellalage explained.

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In a game where runs and wickets mattered, the all-round performance of Dunith Wellalage was hope and skill itself for Sri Lanka, he only set the tone for a tantalizing series ahead. His maturity and poise under pressure have marked him for him to be a rising star in international cricket.