Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara
As allegations of match-fixing in the 2011 World Cup final have gathered steam, former Sri Lanka players Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have been summoned to appear before a special investigation unit in Sri Lanka. The investigation unit has been set up by Sri Lanka's Sports Ministry and as a part of the investigation, former players Aravinda de Silva and Upul Tharanga have also been summoned to appear before the court, ESPNCricinfo reported.
The allegations of match-fixing in the finals of the 2011 World Cup between India and Sri Lanka were made by Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who was the Sports Minister of Sri Lanka at the time. As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, Aluthgamage has claimed that he is already in possession of evidence which proves that fixing occurred in the finals but nothing substantial has been made public yet.
The ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has also never stated the final was under suspicion. Aluthgamage's allegations appear to be about the four changes that Sri Lanka made to their playing XI for the final. However, Sangakkara (Sri Lanka skipper at that time), Jayawardene (then vice-captain), and de Silva (who was chief selector) have repeatedly said that those changes were made looking at the injuries to two players - Angelo Mathews and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Muralitharan was able to play the final, while Mathews was not able to take part in the summit clash. De Silva had given evidence before the investigations unit on Tuesday, while Tharanga had appeared before the unit on Wednesday. Sangakkara and Jayawardene will now make their appearances on either side of the weekend.
India had defeated Sri Lanka in the finals of the 2011 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium. Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first in the match. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.
India, in their chase, got off to a bad start as they lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board. But Gambhir and Dhoni stitched together a match-winning 109-run partnership. Gambhir perished after scoring 97 runs. But Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line.
India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to win again.
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