Former legendary batsman and Chairman of the 2011 Sri Lankan Cricket Selection Committee Aravinda De Silva Saturday urged the Indian Government and the Indian Cricket board to conduct an investigation into the allegation made by former Sri Lanka sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage that 2011 World cup final was fixed.
“I will not remain silent any more, This is a serious allegation and he should give his evidence, if he has information why did he remain silent for 9 years” questioned De Silva in an interview with Swarnavahini TV channel .
Aluthgamage claimed that he had issued a formal complaint to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on the same matter back in 2012 but is yet to hear from them. Asking for an investigation to be carried out, Aluthgamage has asked ‘how certain cricket officials’ allegedly purchased car companies and started new businesses within a year of losing the match?’.
While former captains Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have termed these statements of Aluthgamage ‘politically oriented’, the former sports minister isn’t sure as to why the two cricketers are making such statements as he has not levied any accusations on the Lankan players.
“The team who played the final match was not the team we had selected, finalized and sent off. At the last moment, without the consultation of either me as the then minister of Sports or officials of the Sri Lanka Cricket Control Board, four new players had been included to the team,” Aluthgamage stressed.
In his message to Jayawardene and Sangakkara, Aluthgamage clarified that he isn’t talking about any of the Sri Lankan players in this entire controversy.
“Mahela has said that the circus has started. I don’t understand why Sanga and Mahela are making a big deal about this. I am not referring to any of our players. Everyone is talking about just two minutes of a half an hour interview I gave to a TV channel. Even Arjuna Ranatunga has openly talked about match-fixing issues earlier,” Aluthgamage reaffirmed.
The former Cricket Board Chairman Thilanga Sumathipala, who has himself been embarrassingly banned for life from the cricket for ruining the image of the game in the country and is the man who single handedly destroyed Sri Lanka cricket with his manipulation and gang of looters, has also come to the defense of his Podujana Peramuna colleague telling that Aluthgamage “did not implicate the players so why are they tweeting about it?” He wanted Sangakkara and Jayewardene to stop making a fuss.
On the eve of the final the supremely talented Angelo Mathews was injured, and according to many pundits, both qualified and armchair, the Selectors chose to make four disastrous changes to this super side.
They dropped Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis and brought in the unheralded Suraj Randiv to support a limping Muttiah Muralitharan.
The target was modest by modern standards but the brilliant hundred by Mahela had set it up.
Then Lasith Malinga had India on the backfoot, removing the openers including Sachin Tendulkar and gave Sri Lanka hope.
But it went south for Sri Lanka after that.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni promoted himself up the batting order, and because after ‘keeping for Murali at Super Kings for many years he knew all of the master’s variations and neutralized the wizard. The rest is history.
