In the aftermath of a match-fixing scandal involving Pakistan in England, comes the shocking news that some Sri Lankan players and support staff have come under the microscope of the Criminal Investigation Department and the ICC’s anti-corruption unit.
Was Lanka-India Test series fixed?
The two captains pose with the Micromax trophy after the 1-1 draw.
Meanwhile the Mumbai based Mid Day says ….That's the buzz in bookie circles about 'feel-good' test series; two Indian bookies were reportedly staying in the same hotel as the teams for the entire duration of the series
In the wake of the latest spot fixing controversy involving Pakistani players, India's bookie world is abuzz with talk that the last India vs Sri Lanka Test series was fixed.
It is learnt that bookies Mittal and Soni Malad were in Sri Lanka for the entire duration of the Test series and stayed in the same hotel as the teams.
Sri Lanka won the first Test which was held in the paradise town of Galle. The buzz is that the bookies came into action when Muttiah Muralitharan was close to reaching 800 Test wickets. The great spinner achieved his goal in his farewell Test and Sri Lanka won the game by ten wickets.
A situation was created where there would be a feel good wave after the first Test loss. The second Test played on a batting paradise at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, was drawn and India ended up winning the third Test at the P Sara Oval," a source told yesterday.
The 1-1 draw was India's best result since Mohammed Azharuddin's team beat the islanders 1-0 in the 1993-94 series. N Srinivasan, the BCCI Hon Secretary was not available for comment.
Ranatunga rejects allegations
When we asked an ICC spokesperson as to whether this series is being investigated, he replied: "We cannot comment on evidence which doesn't exist."
When the Sunday Times inquired from SLC Interim Committee secretary Nishantha Ranatunga for his comments on this he said “As far as were are concerned the matters of this nature is handled by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit. If it is so they will delve into the matter and send in their report to the respective boards about their findings for necessary action.
“So far we have not heard anything in this regard and we feel that these are baseless allegations which are concocted to mentally derail our cricketers who are preparing for the all important World Cup” |
It is alleged that persons known to the Lankan cricketers during last year’s T20 World Cup in England had spotted a Lankan player and some support staff meeting some dubious looking persons in an English casino and reported to the Lankan cricket management about the incident.
After a few inquiries, Sri Lankan tour manager Brendon Kuruppu had sent a report on the incident to the ICC, but, had kept Lankan cricket authorities at this end in the dark. This was because of some fingers being pointed towards the management at this end also. Adding more mystery to the case, Nalin de Alwis, a support official who went on the tour, tendered his resignation once the team returned to the island.
In the meantime, the SLC big wigs fired Kuruppu for not keeping them informed about his correspondence with the ICC. He was replaced by the present manager Anura Tennekoon.
We are aware that the ICC did make a visit to Sri Lanka and make some investigations, the outcome of which has still not been made public.
Nevertheless, the allegations sparked further when an inside petition was forwarded to the CID.
The CID in turn interviewed several players and SLC officials. They included the SLC secretary, Nishantha Ranatunga, the then Selection Committee Chairman Asantha de Mel, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, Vice captain Muttiah Muralitharan and the then team Manager Brendon Kuruppu.
In the aftermath of this interview, the then fielding coach of the Sri Lanka team, Manoj Abeywickrema, was sacked.
However, weeks later, he was taken back as a coach on condition that he could not go with the team on foreign tours.Earlier a senior Lankan cricketer who spoke to the Sunday Times complained that though they were interviewed by the CID, the investigation was swept under the carpet.
Nishantha Ranatunga told the Sunday Times, “As far as we are concerned the CID investigation is not over. It is still on. In the aftermath of that investigation, we sacked fielding coach Manoj Abeywickrema and re-employed him subsequently because the charges against him were not fully substantiated. However, we took a collective decision to keep him away from overseas visits and engage him in looking after the junior cricketers.
However, insiders say that there are two Lankan cricketers who are involved in this scam – one a dashing right hander and another, a lanky all-rounder. At the same time they accuse that there are certain players who have direct links with international bookies who operate internationally.
When asked the SLC secretary about what transpired in the Lankan tour of Zimbabwe and the behaviour of some players Ranatunga said “We have received some complaints about some players who were on that tour, and we are in the course of delving into the matter. Once the Inquiries are over and if any one is found guilty we will take appropriate action against them”.
Was the India-Sri Lanka tie also fixed?
When match-fixing reports are floating all around, a top Indian bookie has claimed that the India- Sri Lanka ODI played at Rajkot a year ago was also fixed.
In that match, India put up a massive 414 runs in their allotted quota of overs after being put into bat by Lanka. However, Lankans almost pulled off a thrilling win with Dilshan’s heroic innings of 160 but eventually fell short by 3 runs.
"Sri Lanka were 401/5 with just 14 more runs needed from seven balls. The bets were coming in fast because punters wanted to balance the stakes. At the start, India looked firm favourites and there were almost no takers for Sri Lanka win. But towards the end, it all became a frenzy," the bookie was quoted saying in the Times of India newspaper.
Just then he received an SMS saying, “Cancel all deals and don't take any further bets. India is winning the game."
The text message remains to be a mystery but the bookie claims that “money around Rs 28 crore ($ 7m) changed hands that night. It is for the relevant authorities to try and see if there was any truth to the allegations.” Courtesy ESPNstar.com
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