Upul Tharanga Questioned In 2011 World Cup Final Fixing Probe

Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga on Wednesday became the first player to be questioned by detectives in a probe investigating claims that the 2011 Cricket World Cup final was fixed. He was quizzed for two hours by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) examining the final which Sri Lanka lost to India.

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.”

Upul Tharanga was an integral part of the Sri Lankan team that made it to the final in 2011 World Cup. The left-handed batsman, who had scored only 2 runs off 20 balls in the final, finished the competition with an impressive 395 centuries with the help of two tons and a fifty.

“They asked a few questions in connection with the ongoing investigation. I gave my statement,” Upul Tharanga told reporters without giving further details.

Before Upul Tharanga, the investigators had quizzed former chief selector Aravinda de Silva for nearly six hours on Tuesday.

As far as the game is concerned, 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.

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