Sri Lanka's former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has alleged that his country "sold" the 2011 World Cup final to India, a claim ridiculed by formers captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who demanded evidence from him. In an interview with local TV channel Sirasa, Aluthgamage said the final was fixed. Set a target of 275, India claimed the trophy thanks to the brilliance of Gautam Gambhir (97) and then skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (91).

"Today I am telling you that we sold the 2011 World Cup, I said this when I was the sports minister," Aluthgamage, who was the sports minister at the time, said. "As a country I do not want to announce this. I can't exactly remember if it was 2011 or 2012. But we were to win that game," added the politician, who was the state minister of power in the current caretaker government which is in charge until the election to be held on August 5.