An explosive public statement made by former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage on match-fixing for money has now begun to embarrassingly expose former Sri Lanka cricket greats as the international media follows the story in the country in the aftermath of a probe committee set-up to investigate the issue.
Two of the former players exposed in the investigation have been Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena who played in the 2011 World Cup final against India which Aluthgamage said in a television interview was fixed.
“Ex-Sri Lanka skipper Sangakkara grilled in World Cup fixing probe” screamed one international headline in a report filed by the AFP news agency. The report said Sangakkara was questioned by a police Special Investigations Unit for nearly 10 hours, the first time that a Sri Lankan cricketer had to endure such a torrid time outside the Crease.
“We sold the match,” Aluthgamage told the television channel that led to the probe.
“This is a big embarrassment to our cricketers,” said a former Sri Lanka player who requested that he not be named as he is currently on the pay roll of Sri Lanka Cricket. “In his (Aluthgamage’s) eagerness to settle a score with someone who did not play in that match, our cricketers are facing the brunt of it by appearing before an Inquiry Commission.”
“I hope at the end of this investigation, the truth about the allegations made by Mahindananda Aluthgamage will come out,” Sangakkara was quoted in the report. Mahela Jayawardena who also played in the match in question appeared before the inquiry committee the following day on Friday.
Both Sangakkara and Jayawardena made scores of 48 and 105 in the match making them the highest contributors in a total of 273 which India chased down and won.