Mahindananda Aluthgamage claimed Sri Lanka sold the final to India.
Legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene has reacted to the former Sri Lanka Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s sensational claims that the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka was fixed.
Sri Lanka lost the iconic final encounter to India by 6 wickets despite posting a challenging total of 274/6 riding on a classy Jayawardene unbeaten century, and then Lasith Malinga’s heroic with the ball, removing Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag early in the match.
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However, Gautam Gambhir (97) and Dhoni (91*) managed to take India over the finishing line against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium to give another World Cup glory to Indian cricket. It was one of the memorable and iconic triumphs for the entire country, as it was India’s second and first World Cup trophy after 28 years since Kapil Dev and his team’s historic title victory in 1983.
Well, some have often seen the World Cup final with suspicion and now Aluthgamage has claimed that the game was fixed.
Reviving one of the most explosive match-fixing controversies, Aluthgamage, who was Sports Minister between 2010 and 2015, claimed Sri Lanka “sold” the 2011 World Cup final to India.
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Aluthgamage told Sirasa TV: “I tell you today that we sold the 2011 World Cup finals. It took place when I was the Minister of Sports. I state with full responsibility. However, I do not wish to expose details for the sake of the country. The game against India in 2011, a game which we could have won, was fixed.”
Meanwhile, Aluthgamage’s allegations didn’t go down well with the Lankan captain Jayawardene who has reacted strongly to his comments. The legendary batsman mocked Aluthgamage, who is currently a state minister for renewable energy and power in Sri Lanka, for his claims and asked for evidence.
Jayawardene replied to a Twitter post: “Is the elections around the corner Looks like the circus has started Clown face names and evidence? #SLpolitics #ICC.”
The former captain Kumar Sangakkara also took to Twitter to call for the investigation regarding such claims while asking Aluthgamage for "evidence".