Days after sparking the controversy with his fixing remarks on the India v Sri Lanka World Cup 2011 final, former Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga has clarified that his statement was wrongly represented. He asserted that he never made match-fixing allegations related to the final.
As reported by one of the leading sports websites, SPORTSKEEDA, the 53-year-old veteran Sri Lankan cricketer spoke to a journalist in Colombo where he stated that he never wanted to discard the achievements of the Indian cricket team who, under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy, defeated Sri Lanka in 2011 world tournament finals and became the world champions.
The reports quoted Ranatunga as saying,”When it comes to the 2011 World Cup final, I never said I was concerned about match-fixing. I said there were issues, address the issues. It is not my issues, the entire country saw it. I am not taking the credit away from India at all”.
“I can remember when I was seated with all the captains before the tournament, I said my heart says Sri Lanka but India has the best side. But unfortunately, the way we approached that game and some of the things that happened in the final, I was not comfortable. So I said, these are the things the ICC should get into. I never said match-fixing,” he added.
Earlier, in the month of July, he asserted that he had proofs through which he could reveal what really happened in the 2011 World Cup final. He said,”I cannot reveal what happened that day, however, I would someday reveal the truth with proof.”
Later, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra, who were a part of the then Indian World Cup squad, expressed their disagreements. Gambhir said he couldn’t believe Ranatunga would make such a claim and asked him to present the proof.
On the other hand, when Ranatunga was questioned over why he didn’t approach ICC and report the matter, he said he was not directly involved hence he couldn’t do so.
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