Sri Lanka's 2014 T20 World Cup-winner Charged For Match-Fixing
Published - 05 Jun 2025, 03:21 PM | Updated - 05 Jun 2025, 05:19 PM
Former Sri Lanka spinner Sachithra Senanayake has been charged for his involvement in match-fixing during the 2020 edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL).
The former off-spinner has been indicted by the Hambantota High Court for attempting to lure a fellow player for match-fixing. He was himself not a player in the tournament and was overseas when the competition was underway, but made contacts with players for match-fixing, according to reports.
"Senanayake is also alleged to have contacted two other cricketers participating in the inaugural LPL in 2020 via telephone from Dubai, attempting to persuade them to engage in match-fixing," a report in the Sri Lankan 'Daily Mirror' stated.
Sri Lanka's Attorney General's Department has stated that the case marks the first instance of a national-level cricketer being indicted for match-fixing under Sri Lanka's newly enacted anti-corruption law. The 40-year-old was arrested in 2023 and also had a travel ban imposed on him, but was released on bail. He secured the bail on two sureties of LKR 5,000,000 each, but the travel ban remained.
When KKR signed up Sri Lanka's Sachithra Senanayake for a whopping amount:
Sachithra Senanayake became an overnight sensation after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) signed him up for a whopping amount before the IPL 2013 season. The Kolkata-based outfit had signed him for INR 3.3 crore, making him one of the costliest players in the auction at that time.
However, Senanayake did not enjoy a long career in IPL. In fact, he played only 8 games for KKR with all of them coming in 2013. In those 8 games, the former KKR spinner had picked up 9 wickets while maintaining an economy rate of less than 7.
In 2014, he was a part of the Sri Lanka squad that won the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. However, his career took a turn for the worse when he was banned from bowling in international cricket due to illegal bowling action. Later, he returned to international cricket with a remodeled action but could not make a big impact.
His last appearance for Sri Lanka came in 2016. Overall, Senanayake played one Test, 49 ODIs, and 24 T20Is for Sri Lanka between 2012 and 2016. He picked up a total of 78 wickets across formats in international cricket.
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