Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga has made match-fixing allegations over the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka, 6 years later.
India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final of 2011 World Cup played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2, 2011. The 1996 World Cup winning captain who was working as a commentator then said, “I was also in India giving commentaries at the time. When we lost, I was distressed and I had a doubt.”
“We must investigate what happened to Sri Lanka at the 2011 World Cup final. I cannot reveal everything now, but one day I will. There must be an inquiry.” he added.
Batting first Sri Lanka scored 274-6. They had the match in their grasps after Malinga removed Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag cheaply. Thereafter Sri Lanka lost the plot and allowed India to come back in the game.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara”s captaincy that day was questionable. He didn”t bowl out his champion bowler Muttiah Muralitharan (gave only 8 overs), left Randiv and Malinga used and gave bowling to bowlers who were having an ordinary day.
In 2016 ICC banned Jayananda Warnaweera, a top SLC official for 3 years after he failed to cooperate with the anti corruption investigation. Once an unnamed man affiliated with a bookie had offered a couple of Sri Lankan players 10 million rupees to underperform.
After the 3-2 defeat against Zimbabwe, Sri Lankan cricket has hit the rock bottom. In order to come back strong the board needs to ensure that they have men with integrity both on the field and on the board.
– by Atharva Apte
