Dubai, Sep 16 (IANS) Sri Lanka all-rounder Dunith Wellalage has been crowned the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for August 2024 following his exceptional all-round performances against India.
The 21-year-old left-arm spinner and battter outshone South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj and West Indies’ Jayden Seales to claim the prestigious award.
Wellalage’s contributions were instrumental in Sri Lanka’s historic ODI series victory over India, their first bilateral series win against the cricketing giants since 1997.
Despite India being heavy favourites, bolstered by the return of stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Wellalage’s brilliant all-round display helped Sri Lanka overcome the formidable challenge.
Across the series, Wellalage amassed 108 runs and took seven wickets, making crucial contributions in every game. In the first ODI, he scored an unbeaten career-best 67 not out, and claimed the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, helping Sri Lanka secure a thrilling tie.
His fighting 39 in the second ODI played a pivotal role in setting a winning total for Sri Lanka. While he didn’t fire with the bat in the third ODI, Wellalage delivered a career-best bowling performance of 5/27, dismantling India’s batting order and taking the prized wickets of Kohli, Rohit, and Shreyas Iyer.
Upon receiving the award, Wellalage expressed his joy and gratitude: “This recognition gives me further strength to continue doing the good work I do as a player and contribute to my team to reach excellence in the field. I wish to thank my teammates, parents, friends, and relatives… as they have been supporting me all throughout,” Wellalage told ICC.
Wellalage’s award marks the second time a Sri Lankan male player has won the accolade this year, with teammate Kamindu Mendis claiming the honour in March 2024. It’s a double celebration for Sri Lanka as Harshita Samarawickrama was named ICC Women’s Player of the Month for August.
She overcame competition from the Irish duo of Orla Prendergast and Gaby Lewis to bag the honour. It is also the third woman’s award for the island nation in 2024, with Athapaththu having won the award in May and July.
The southpaw dominated Ireland in both ODI and T20I legs of the tour, securing some monster scores on the way.
“I am extremely happy with this recognition, which I consider a new high in my career. It certainly gives me a lot of confidence ahead of the big competition, the Women’s T20 World Cup,” Harshita said.
“This achievement would not have been possible without the incredible support network around me—my teammates, coaches, parents, my sister, brother, friends, and mentors. I take this opportunity to thank them all.
“I also wish to commend the players who were nominated alongside me for the Player of the Month award. They are immensely talented, and I loved competing with such quality,” she added.
–IANS
hs/ab
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
