Thaindian News

Chennai, May 2 (IANS) Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has said Hashan Tillakaratne should work closely with International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti- Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to find those involved in match-fixing.

Reacting to Tillakaratne’s claims that Sri Lanka have been involved in match-fixing since 1992, Sangakkara said: “Hashan made those comments in a TV show. It was then taken up by the press. 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,” the captain of the IPL team Deccan Chargers said Sunday night.

Tillakaratne, also a former captain, who played 83 Tests and 200 one-dayers for Sri Lanka during his 15-year career, said he was prepared to back up his allegations by naming some of those involved.

“Match-fixing is something which has been in this country over a period of time. This has spread like a cancer today,” Tillakaratne was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper. “According to my knowledge, it happened since 1992,” he had said.

The claims were rubbished by sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who said that Tillakaratne’s views are personnel and there is no proof behind his allegations.

Tillakaratne, however, has received backing from former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif.

Latif, who was a whistleblower in the match-fixing scandal involving Pakistan in the 1990s, said that Tillakaratne knows a lot about the world of match-fixing, adding that he is hoping that a lot of big names would be exposed when he would speak his heart out.