Dunith Wellalage has been awarded as the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for August 2024. The 21-year-old young man has beaten the likes of Protea veteran all-rounder Keshav Maharaj and West Indies' young bowling prodigy Jayden Seales.

Dunith Wellalage
Dunith Wellalage was superb in the ODI series against India and helped Sri Lanka overcome the Indian challenge in a bilateral ODI series after 1997.

Wellalage piled up 108 runs in the ODI series and picked up seven wickets to his name. He scripted a career-best 67* and followed it up with the wickets of Indian giants Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in the first ODI, which ended in a thrilling tie.

He scorsd another vital contribution with a fighting 39 in the second ODI that helped Sri Lanka to a winning total. Although, he didn’t click with the bat in the third game, but went on to achieve the career-best figures of 5/27 and Sri Lanka beat India by 2-0 in the ODI series.

Wellalage expressed his "immense satisfaction" after receiving the award from ICC.

"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 I am sure my achievement will provide them great satisfaction, as they have been supporting me all throughout.

"Recognition such as this, coming from the International Cricket Council, is great news for young players like us and will certainly encourage young players in the game."

Another Sri Lankan, Harshitha Madavi won the ICC Women's Player of the Month Award for August 2024. Harshitha Madavi overcame the competition from the Irish duo of Orla Prendergast and Gaby Lewis and won the award.