Aravinda De Silva, the former national selection committee chairman, was questioned by the Sri Lankan police on Tuesday after former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s alleged that the national cricket team’s loss to India in the 2011 World Cup final was fixed by “certain parties”. De Silva, who was the man of the match in Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup triumph, was the first to be interviewed by the newly formed anti-corruption unit (sports). Superintendent Jagath Fonseka said spoke to reporters and said, “Today we started the investigation into (2011 World Cup) match-fixing allegations.”
“Based on the statement given by Aravinda de Silva today, we have decided to summon a player from the 2011 squad, Upul Tharanga, tomorrow to record his statement.”Tharanga, who will be grilled on Wednesday, was the opening batsman for the Islanders in the finals and scored just two runs from 20 balls.De Silva, the then chairman of selectors, was quizzed for over six hours by the police. Earlier, Aluthgamage’s claims were rubbished by the 2011 world cup skipper Kumar Sangakkara and centurion Mahela Jayawardene.
