Sri Lanka’s Upul Tharanga, who scored only two runs off 20 deliveries in 2011 World Cup at Wankhede Stadium. Tharanga was called by the investigators after they scrutinised chief selector Aravinda de Silva for almost six hours on Thursday.
Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga became the first player to be interrogated aggressively by the detectives on Wednesday in an allegation that the 2011 World Cup final was fixed. The 25-year-old was questioned rigorously for two continuous hours by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on the conduct of the World Cup finals, which Sri Lanka lost to India.
“They asked a few questions in connection with the ongoing investigation. I gave my statement,” Tharanga told reporters without giving further details.
The investigation was conducted after government minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, the then sports minister, described the world event as a fixed game. “I feel I can talk about it now,” Aluthgamage told a local TV network last month. “I am not connecting players, but some sections were involved.”
Sri Lanka was the first to bat and set a score of 274-6 in 50 overs. They appeared in a commanding position when Sachin Tendulkar lost his wicket after scoring only 18 runs. However, India did turn the game around dramatically, thanks to the poor fielding and bowling by the Lankans, who were led by Kumar Sangakkara. India finally won the World Cup by six wickets.
SIU chief Jagath Fonseka said the officers would decide who else should be added to the list of interviews after analysing Tharanga’s testimony. Fonseka also mentioned they were obtaining intelligence reports and inputs from unspecified international source to strategise their probe.
On the other hand, chief selector de Silva refused to comment about his questioning or selection process for the mega event.
This is not the first time we’re hearing the conspiracy from Sri Lankan cricket. The team has been previously linked to corruption allegations, including assertions of match-fixing ahead of 2018 Test against England. Last month, Sri Lankan cricket board said the ICC was investigating three anonymous ex-players over corruption charges.
Match-fixing was made a criminal offence in November and it results to 100 million rupees (US$ 555,000) and up to 10 years of imprisonment.
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