This Asia Cup has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. With another India-Pakistan match coming up 30 hours later, the drama hasn’t yet ended. But in the middle of this, Dunith Wellalage has come as a symbol of hope and a kind of optimism as to what sport is all about.
The young man lost his father, Suranga Wellalage, 54, to a heart attack when he was playing against Afghanistan. He was communicated the news by his coach Sanath Jayasuriya. He went back to Sri Lanka for a day to attend the last rites and is now back in Dubai this morning to take field in the game against Bangladesh.
Dunith is just 22. To just give a very personal reference, I had lost my father when I was 24. I had just reached Oxford on October 1, 2000, when I was informed that he had passed away, having fallen to a cardiac arrest. The truth is I was numb. I did travel back to India to be with the family and it seemed that my world had collapsed around me.
Dunith Wellalage has rejoined the Sri Lanka squad at the Asia Cup on Saturday morning after having returned home following the death of his father Suranga Wellalage on Thursday. Best wishes to the young man.@BoriaMajumdar @CricSubhayan @OfficialSLC @ACCMedia1 #AsiaCup2025… pic.twitter.com/yoSjT2G8yv
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) September 20, 2025
It must be the same for young Dunith. And yet, he has summoned the courage to travel back to Dubai to join national duty. Much like Sachin Tendulkar did in 1999 in that World Cup match against Kenya after losing his father. Virat Kohli, too, had gone and played a Ranji Trophy game soon after cremating his father.
What these instances show is how powerful sport is and what men and women can do when they play sport. These are life lessons that make sport very different and give us hope that not all is about ego or games of one upmanship.
I don’t know Dunith. Have never met him and nor have I interacted with him. He is less than half my age and yet, all I can say is my respect for him has grown ten-fold. Having been in a similar situation, I can say what he has done is among the hardest things in the world. He will never again see his father and to leave his mother back home and travel back to Dubai takes enormous courage and resilience. And for the family to be able to absorb the shock and ask the son to go back and join the team is as commendable.
In an Asia Cup starved of positivity, Dunith has come as a ray of positivity. Sport can continue to inspire and set examples and when Sri Lanka take field tonight, our prayers and thoughts will be with the young man.
Needless to say, his father will be watching. And just as we all offer our silent prayers, he will know he can rest in peace. He has a son who is not just a good cricketer, but also a fantastic human being. That’s what sport is all about and that’s what Dunith Wellalage has demonstrated. Go well young man.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025: SLC Confirms Wellalage’s Super Four Availability
For More Sports Related News: Follow RevSportz