Arjuna Ranatunga, former Minister of Sport, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, has also claimed that Sri Lanka sold the 2011 Cricket World Cup to India after World-Cup winning captain’s remarks.
Aluthgamage ‘s remarks have rekindled the controversy over match-fixing. He was at the time the Minister of Sports for Sri Lanka and served from 2010-2015.
I tell you today that we sold the 2011 World Cup finals. Even when I was a sports minister I believed this.
Sri Lanka lost the historic final to captain Kumar Sangakkara at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Speaking of the match, Aluthgamage, now Minister of Renewable Energy and Power, said he didn’t want to reveal the match-fixing at the time.
In 2011, we were to win, but we sold the match. I feel I can talk about it now. I am not connecting players, but some sections were involved.
After posting 274/6, Sri Lanka lost the unbeaten century with the help of Mahela Jayawardane as India chased the target with 10 balls to spare. The victory gave India its second World Cup title under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.
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Earlier, Arjuna Ranatunga, the winner of the 1996 World Cup, who was also a commentator on 2011 final, claimed the same. He also requested that the authorities investigate the matter.
It is the same World Cup where the dismissal of Tendulkar was reversed after a controversial appeal decision followed by some Pakistani players’ bad batting.
