Praveen Jayawickrama faces triple ICC charges for match-fixing allegations after Sri Lanka's historic ODI series win vs India

Sri Lanka National Cricket Team spinner Praveen Jayawickrama has come under the radar of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The bowler has been charged with three counts of breaching the Anti-Corruption Code of the governing body.

Praveen Jayawickrama was approached by match-fixing during International matches and in the 2021 Lanka Premier League. He was asked by the International Cricket Council to report on the matter but the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team spinner to report to the Anti-Corruption Unit of the governing body.

Jayawickrama reportedly was found guilty of deleting the messages related to the approach for conducting corrupt practices. The Sri Lanka National Cricket Team spinner has now been given 14 days from 6 August 2024 to respond to the charges and give his explanations on the charges.

Praveen Jayawickrama has been charged with the following offenses under the code:

"Article 2.4.4 – Failing to report to the Anti-Corruption Unit, without unnecessary delay, details of an approach he received to carry out fixing in future International Matches.

Article 2.4.4 – Failing to report to the Anti-Corruption Unit, without unnecessary delay, details of an approach he received in which he was asked to approach another player, on a corrupter’s behalf, to carry out fixing in the 2021 Lanka Premier League.

Article 2.4.7 – Obstructing the investigation by deleting messages in which the approaches and offers to engage in corrupt conduct were made."

Sri Lanka Cricket and the International Cricket Council have agreed that the ICC will be taking actions related to the charges concerning the Lanka Premier League charge as well as the International Matches. This comes after the spinner was found guilty of breaching Articles 1.7.4.1 and 1.8.1 of the Code.

Praveen Jayawickrama's career for the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team

Praveen Jayawickrama has been one of the most exciting spinners to have played for the nation. When he broke into the scene, he set the stage on fire with his sensational bowling performances for the team in all three formats of the game and even seemed unplayable.

Jayawickrama has played 15 international matches for the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team including 5 ODIs, 5 Tests, and 5 T20Is, and has taken a total of 32 wickets. He last played for the team in 2022 in the T20I series against Australia and, since then, has been on the sidelines.

While the development surrounding Praveen Jayawickrama might have put the Sri Lanka team under the pump, they recently achieved a new high. The Charith Asalanka-led side defeated the India National Cricket Team in the three-match ODI series by the margin of 2-0 and registered their first-ever ODI series win over the opposition since 1997.

The first game of the series between India and Sri Lanka ended in a tie. Following that, Sri Lanka registered a 32-run win before beating the Rohit Sharma-led side in the final game by a massive margin of 110 runs. Their spinners made mighty Indian batting look clueless and didn't allow them to score runs freely.