Asia Cup 2023: KL Rahul promises different approach when they face Dunith Wellalage in future encounters
India’s wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul has said that the batting order will adopt a far more attacking approach when they next take on Sri Lankan spinner Dunith Wellalage in their next encounter. Rahul asserted that the Indian batters intend to aggressively confront Wellalage and they were not willing to allow him to settle down and dictate terms – much like the way he did in the Super 4 match held in Colombo on Tuesday.
Wellalage, aided by a turning track at the Premadasa stadium, put in a stellar display and picked up a 5-wicket haul to initiate India’s batting collapse. The 20-year-old sensation picked up the wickets Shubman Gill (19), Rohit Sharma (53), Virat Kohli (3), Rahul himself (39), and Hardik Pandya (5). He ended his spell with a career-best figures of 5 for 40 in ODIs.
Speaking after the match, Rahul praised the left-arm spinner for being accurate and for challenging the India batters. He also referred to him as the most menacing bowler on display for the Indian batting order.
“He looked the most dangerous bowler in Sri Lanka’s attack till I was playing. What more can I say? He got five top-order batsmen out. It was a good day for him, he did well with the bat too. The next time we play, we will be more aggressive against him,” Rahul said after the match.
Wellalage was very accurate and he kept challenging both edges of the bat of right and left-handers. He started his day with a perfectly flighted delivery that turned past Shubman Gill’s bat and clipped his stumps. He then deceived Virat Kohli with a ball that was held in the surface. The left-arm spinner then outfoxed Rohit Sharma with a skidding delivery that also kept low and crashed into the stumps.
India won this match despite posting a below par total as the pitch kept assisting the spinners and Kuldeep Yadav delivered the win with a 4-wicket haul. Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with 2 wickets as India won the match quite convincingly.
With this result, Bangladesh have been knocked out of the tournament while the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka becomes a virtual knock-out as the winner of this match will take on India in the final of Asia Cup.