Dangerous to throw names around: Sangakkara

Former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara reacting sharply to Hashan Tillakaratne’s allegation that Sri Lankan players have been fixing matches since 1992, said instead of throwing names around, the ex-player should work with the ICC’s anti-corruption unit to rout out the menace if it is there.

Speaking in the post match media conference after his IPL side Deccan Chargers’ 19-run loss to Chennai Super Kings, the Deccan Chargers captain has said: “Hashan has played the game for years and he’s captained Sri Lanka as well. So it’s interesting to see what he has to say and if he has anything more than allegations.”

“It’s dangerous to throw names around, he should work very closely with the ACSU of the ICC and the home authorities to ensure that something’s done about it if there is any foundation to those claims but beyond that I don’t think it makes any big sense to the players playing now,” said Sangakkara who quit as Sri Lanka after the World Cup final.
 

Tillakaratne claimed that match fixing has been a widespread practice in Sri Lankan cricket since 1992 and questioned the changes made for the World Cup final against India.

Earlier, another former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena challenged his one-time teammate Tillakaratne to come out with proof that match-fixing has been prevalent in cricket since 1992.

“People can say whatever they want. You need to prove the allegations,” Jayawardena told reporters on on Friday.

Jayawardena, who leads Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the Indian Premier League, refused to get into the details of the allegations saying that it is Tillakaratne who first needs to come out with substantial evidence of any kind of wrongdoing.

“I have no comments. Honestly, I just saw the news. We will have to wait and see what he has to say and what he has to come out with to be honest with you, no comments till then,” he was quoted as telling in the Indian media.

Tillakaratne, a former Sri Lankan captain, made the comments on a Sinhala-language television talk show in Sri Lanka last week.

“Match fixing is not something that started happening yesterday or today. This has been happening since 1992 and I know all the people who are connected to it,” Tillekaratne told the talk show promising to reveal the name of the suspects “shortly”.

“I am not saying that this match (the World Cup final) was fixed but why were four players changed for this match? Why was Mendis (Ajantha) removed to put another spinner, Kapugedara (Chamara) was never among runs but he was chosen to replace Chamara Silva. It is not fair, is it?,” said Tillakaratne, who represented Sri Lanka in 83 Tests and 200 one-day Internationals.

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