{"id":211685,"date":"2020-07-07T00:02:16","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T18:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=211685"},"modified":"2020-07-11T23:51:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T18:21:10","slug":"2011-cricket-world-cup-final-arjuna-i-would-someday-reveal-the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/2011-cricket-world-cup-final-arjuna-i-would-someday-reveal-the-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 Cricket World Cup Final –\u00a0Arjuna: \u201cI Would Someday Reveal The Truth\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0<\/b>Amrit Muttukumaru<\/a> –<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Amrit Muttukumaru<\/p><\/div>\n

This writer is at his wits\u2019\u00a0end to unravel the following:<\/p>\n

1) Mahindananda Aluthgamage was the Sports Minister at the time of the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final. Why did he not pursue his allegation of \u2018match-fixing\u2019 giving victory to India at the time he was sports minister?<\/p>\n

2) Why has he now after 9 long years<\/a> raised this issue?<\/p>\n

3) Police media spokesman SSP Jaliya Senaratne now informs that the Sport Ministry’s Special Investigation Division has \u201chalted\u201d<\/a>\u00a0its \u201cinvestigations\u201d as the allegations have been \u201cdeemed baseless\u201d.<\/p>\n

4) Arjuna Ranatunga – 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain, then Minister of Petroleum and Renewable Resources is quoted in \u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 of 14 July 2017<\/a> as stating (i) \u201cI was on the panel of commentators during this World Cup final, and I was really disappointed with Sri Lanka\u2019s performance.\u201d (ii) \u201cI cannot reveal what happened on that day, but I would someday reveal the truth. So, I think we should hold an inquiry into this matter,\u201d<\/p>\n

5) If the allegations were \u201cdeemed baseless\u201d, what was the rationale for the captain of the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final team – Kumar Sangakkara to have given a \u201cstatement for over a nine-hours\u201d<\/a>?\u00a0 <\/span>This is in the context of an ODI lasting only eight hours!<\/p>\n

6) Kumar Sangakkara is one of the most knowledgeable persons on the subject of cricket. He is also a very articulate person. Should he not clarify what he was doing at the \u2018Special Investigation\u2019 for 9 hours?<\/p>\n

7) If the allegations were \u201cdeemed baseless\u201d,\u00a0 <\/span>what was the rationale for the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Committee at that time – Aravinda de Silva to have given a\u00a0 <\/span>5-hour long statement<\/a>?<\/p>\n

8) AFP and NDTV<\/a>\u00a0<\/span> on 18 June 2020 quote Mahindananda Aluthgamage has having told \u2018Sirasa TV\u2019 (i) “I tell you today that we sold the 2011 World Cup finals,” (ii) “Even when I was sports minister I believed this.” (iii) “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,”<\/p>\n

9) How can Aluthgamage allege \u2018match-fixing\u2019 if he maintains \u201cI am not connecting players\u201d? Could any \u2018match-fixing\u2019 occur without the complicity of players?<\/p>\n

10) The same AFP and NDTV<\/a> report while stating that Aluthgamage \u201cis the second senior figure to allege the final was fixed, after 1996 World Cup-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga.\u201d quotes Ranatunga as saying in July 2017 (i) “When we lost, I was distressed and I had a doubt,” (ii) “We must investigate what happened to Sri Lanka at the 2011 World Cup final.”<\/p>\n

11) \u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 of 14 July 2017<\/a> quotes 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain – Arjuna Ranatunga\u00a0 then Minister of Petroleum and Renewable Resources as stating (i) \u201cIf Mr. Sangakkara wants an inquiry into the tour of Pakistan then they should have one. But I think we should also inquire what happened to the Sri Lanka Team during the 2011 World Cup final. I think this is something that the Sports Minister should look into rather than concentrating on fitness issues,\u201d (ii) \u201cI was on the panel of commentators during this World Cup final, and I was really disappointed with Sri Lanka\u2019s performance.\u201d (iii) \u201cI cannot reveal what happened on that day, but I would someday reveal the truth. So, I think we should hold an inquiry into this matter,\u201d<\/p>\n

12) Does not Arjuna Ranatunga\u00a0at least hint on player complicity by allegedly stating “I was on the panel of commentators during this World Cup final, and I was really disappointed with Sri Lanka’s performance,”?<\/p>\n

13) Should not Arjuna Ranatunga\u00a0 <\/span>make good on his promise “I cannot reveal what happened on that day, but I would someday reveal the truth.\u201d ?<\/p>\n

14) Has not Aluthgamage given him an \u2018opening\u2019 to do so at least now? Will not Ranatunga forfeit any moral authority he has to seek votes at next month\u2019s general election, if he fails to do so?<\/p>\n

15) If not for its implications to the credibility of Sri Lanka where Arjuna Ranatunga was a senior cabinet minister and Cricket World Cup winning captain, it is amusing that Ranatunga is now reportedly urging Aluthgamage to \u2018disclose evidence over his match fixing claims\u2019<\/a> This was a person who said (i) \u201cI was on the panel of commentators during this World Cup final\u2019 (ii) “When we lost, I was distressed and I had a doubt”<\/p>\n

16) As Alice cried in \u2018Wonderland\u2019\u00a0things are indeed getting “Curiouser\u00a0and curiouser!”<\/p>\n

17) An unrepentant Aluthgamage while confirming<\/a>\u00a0 <\/span>his allegation of \u2018match-fixing\u2019, has requested President Rajapaksa to set in motion a proper investigation.\u00a0 <\/span>If a transparent investigation proves both Aluthgamage and Ranatunga wrong, should not both parties be held accountable?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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