Sri Lankan Cricket rattled by Hashan Tillakaratne's allegations
Sri Lankan Cricket Board and players have been incensed by the claims of former captain and middle order batsman, Hashan Tillakaratne.
In an interview given to Sri Lankan media, the former batsman had stated that the final of the World Cup between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 on 2 April, 2011, was fixed.
He added that the Lankan selection for the final was mind boggling to say the least and was not as per the conditions. He implied outside influence in the process, hinting towards the bookies.
Tillakaratne reiterated his stance in another statement made today, he said that his statements were not meant to gain political mileage but were made to express and share the facts that he knew. He added that match fixing was common
in Sri Lankan cricket for the last several years.
He stated that he would share all evidence with the governing body of the game, the International Cricket Council, when the time is rife.
"I made the statements [about match-fixing] neither to get political mileage nor to put anyone in an awkward position," said Tillakaratne, now a politician affiliated to the opposition party in Sri Lanka.
"I made the comments in good faith and I will share the information with the ICC. The exercise was meant to protect the game and the players we all love so much," he added.
A couple of days ago the Sri Lankan Cricket Board termed Tillakaratne's decision untimely and strange. The Board feels that if they were legitimate then he should not have taken such a long time to come out with his story.
Meanwhile, Tillakaratne’s allegations have not been taken lightly by many of his former teammates. Leading the pack is the veteran trio of contemporary Lankan cricket, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 and two former captains, Mahela Jayawardene
and Kumar Sangakkara.
The three led Sri Lanka to the 2011 World Cup final and have questioned Tillakaratne’s story, asking him to prove it.
"I don't know why he has said this," Muralitharan told
PTI. "If somebody is making such claims, he should first give enough proof to support them, otherwise someone can sue him. He has made allegations and only he is answerable for that. These are mere allegations which have not been proved yet."
The wily off-spinner who has taken more than 1300 international wickets in a career spanning 18 years, stated that he was never approached by any match fixer throughout his career.
Murali further claimed that he would have told the governing body of the game immediately and followed the proper process in place for sharing such information.
Tillakaratne’s claims have further compounded the situation for the ICC and its Anti Corruption and Security Unit. The body had slapped heavy bans on the Pakistani trio of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt after their involvement
in the damning spot fixing scandal in England last year.
If the claims of Tillakaratne are substantiated than the reputation of the game would be metted another heavy blow, especially since the World Cup was reported to be a big success.
One hopes that ICC will probe into the matter thoroughly and deal with Hashan’s allegations seriously.
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