In a shocking revelation, former Sri Lanka Cricket President Thilanga Sumathipala has named Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva as the two players who started fixing matches from the country.
Both Ranatunga and de Silva are World Cup winners and are legends in cricketing parleys in Sri Lanka.
"Arjuna and Aravinda were the names mentioned, they were alleged to have taken $15,000 from someone named Gupta," Sumathipala told reporters in Anuradhapura.
Could well be a case of a political slugfest
While this is a serious allegation, the fact that Ranatunga is a politician and is in the public service for quite some time now, it could well be a political statement made in order to tarnish the image of an opponent.
The former Sri Lanka captain, who never minces his words and is no stranger to making outlandish statements himself, had earlier accused Sumathipala's family of having links with bookies.
He even said that the current shambolic state of Sri Lanka Cricket was primarily because of the corrupt management of the game under Sumathipala. This war of words has been on for quite a while now and in the absence of any substantial proof, the match-fixing allegation could well be another salvo fired at the opponent.
It should be mentioned here that Ranatunga is no stranger to the fixing world as he had made claims that the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai was also fixed, a claim which was shot down by several players who took part in the game.
Gautam Gambhir, one of the heroes of the final, had slammed Ranatunga for making statements without any proof.
"I am surprised by Arjuna Ranatunga's allegations. These are serious comments by a very respectable voice in international cricket. I think, to clear the air, he should back his claims with proofs," Gambhir, who top-scored for India with 97, said.
The former captain later made a u-turn and said that he was never too concerned about match-fixing but believed that the ICC should take a look at few instances.
"But unfortunately, the way we approached that game and some of the things that happened in the final, I was not comfortable. So I said, these are the things the ICC should get into. I never said match-fixing," Ranatunga said.
