India captain Suryakumar Yadav's heartwarming gesture towards Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage is winning hearts on social media. For the unversed, Wellalage's father passed away due to a sudden heart attack on Thursday, September 18, while Sri Lanka were playing the last Group B match against the Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan.
Ahead of the final Super Four contest of Asia Cup 2025, Suryakumar went up to Wellalage on the field and placed a comforting hand on Wellalage’s shoulder. The 35-year-old
spoke words of support and embraced him as well. This particular act of empathy by Suryakumar has been going viral amongst the cricket fraternity for the manner in which true sportsmanship was displayed.
Watch the video here
Coming to how the game panned out, India edged past the Lankans in what turned out to be a thriller of a contest at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The match had to be decided via a Super Over after scores were level after both teams scored 202 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. Despite being on the losing side, Pathum Nissanka won the Player of the Match accolade for his 58-ball 107-run knock.
Nissanka's blistering knock comprised seven fours and six sixes. He kept Sri Lanka within touching distance of the asking rate for the bulk of the chase. For the Men in Blue, Arshdeep Singh turned out to be the star. The left-arm pacer, playing in just his second match of the ongoing tournament, bowled wonderfully well in the Super Over to take both of the opposition wickets while conceding only two runs in his set.
The Indian team will now take on Pakistan in the final of the tournament at the same venue on Sunday, September 28. Table-toppers of Group B, Sri Lanka, had a disappointing ending to their campaign. They ended up losing all three of their Super Four matches, finishing rock bottom in the standings. The Lankans' next assignment will be a three-match ODI series against the Men in Green in an away series.
