Sri Lanka Legend Aravinda de Silva Questioned For 6 Hours In 2011 World Cup Final Investigation

Former Sri Lanka captain Aravinda de Silva was questioned for six in an inquiry into the 2011 World Cup final. The inquiry is being conducted by the special police investigation unit of the Sri Lankan ministry of sports. The inquiry stared after former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage alleged that the final between India and Sri Lanka was fixed.

While he could not reveal any evidence to back his claim, he said he takes full responsibility of his comments. Aluthgamage said he does not want to go into the details for the sake of the nation before stating the certain groups were involved in fixing the game.

“Today I am telling you that we sold the 2011 World Cup,” Aluthgamage, who was the sports minister at the time, recently said. “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.”

India had defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets to win their second World Cup and first in 28 years. India were up against a spirited Sri Lankan team which had blown away almost every team that came in its way to the final. Sri Lanka did well with the bat, riding on a classy Mahela Jayawardene (103 not out, 88 balls, 13 fours) century to post a challenging total of 274/6.

In reply, India lost the talismanic Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag early. But from thereon, every thing went India’s way as Gautam Gambhir and later MS Dhoni took charge of the innings.

Gambhir bailed India out of trouble and scored a stunning 97 to set the platform for the win. Dhoni then went on to play an unbeaten knock of 91 to make sure India register the win without any trouble in the end.

Aravinda de Silva questioned:

As soon as Aluthgamage made his allegations, the sports ministry ordered a probe which started on Tuesday and Aravinda de Silva was quizzed for six hours in Colombo on Tuesday. The Sri Lanka legend, who was the chief selector at the time, told the police that India won the match fairly.

The legendary batsman had earlier stated that alleging that the match was fixed would be unfair to players like Sachin Tendulkar. He had also urged the authorities to launch an investigation in order to make things clear.

“We cannot let people get away all the time with lies. I request everyone, ICC, BCCI, and SLC to investigate this immediately. Just like we cherished our World Cup victory (in 1996), players like Sachin cherish these moments for the rest of their lives. I think in the interest of Sachin and the millions of cricket fans across India, it’s the duty of the Indian government and their cricket board to initiate an impartial inquiry to see whether they have won a fixed World Cup,” Aravinda de Silva had told the Sunday Times newspaper.

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