"He has all the qualities to become the next Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka" - Sunil Joshi on Dunith Wellalage heading into Asia Cup clash vs Pakistan

Sunil Joshi believes Dunith Wellalage possesses all the attributes to become the next Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lankan cricket.

The Lankan Lions will face Pakistan in their final Asia Cup 2023 Super Four clash in Colombo on Thursday, September 14. Wellalage will want to dish out another all-round performance in the virtual semi-final and hope that it turns out to be a match-winning contribution this time around.

During an interaction on the Star Sports show Game Plan, Joshi was asked what makes Wellalage so impressive and how he managed to extract so much turn from the surface, to which he responded:

"You have got to give credit to that young lad, the Under-19 Sri Lankan captain, an exciting player in the making. Probably might be another Sanath Jayasuriya. I hope I am not jumping the gun but he has all the qualities to become the next Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka."

The former Indian spin-bowling all-rounder was particularly impressed by the youngster's ability with the bat. He said:

"We have seen him bowling and we have seen the previous innings as well, but the way he batted, he has got each and every quality to become another Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka."

Wellalage registered figures of 5/40 in 10 overs to help Sri Lanka bowl out India for 213 in their previous Super Four game. He then scored an enterprising unbeaten 42 off 46 deliveries in the run chase but couldn't take his team over the line as he ran out of partners at the other end.

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"I think he is bowling too quick" - Sunil Joshi on what's missing in Shadab Khan's bowling

Rohit Sharma took Shadab Khan to the cleaners in Pakistan's last game.

On the flip side, Sunil Joshi was asked what was amiss in Shadab Khan's bowling, to which he replied:

"I think he is bowling too quick. He is not allowing the wrist to break. He is just trying to finish the wrist. You saw Kuldeep (Yadav) the other day, fabulous wrist control and seam position. The wrist was perfectly breaking and we have seen Kuldeep what he did in 2018 and 2019 and you are seeing Kuldeep 2.0 in 2023."

Joshi was also asked whether he would fancy a bowl on the Colombo pitch and what he expects from the surface on Thursday. He responded:

"My hands are itching. I wish I could have been there. I think it's going to be a challenging one for both teams. Pakistan are short of a spinner who can really spin the ball apart from Shadab and Sri Lanka have spinners. So there is a challenge for the Pakistani batters against Sri Lankan spinners."

Pakistan have added Mohammad Nawaz and Saud Shakeel to their lineup for the must-win game, with both offering a left-arm spin option. The Sri Lankan spinners took all 10 wickets in their last game against India, with even part-time off-spinner Charith Asalanka chipping in with four wickets.