Sri Lankan authorities probing fresh match-fixing scandal

Rangana Herath and Kusal Perera were allegedly approached by bookies

In the latest incident of corruption, a Sri Lankan minister has come out and suggested that bookies had approached Sri Lankan Test cricket players Rangana Herath and Kusal Perera, with a huge offer of money, during the recent home Test series against West Indies.

Sri Lankan sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara went on to state that authorities were probing into the matter, which was deemed pretty serious. The minister said that bookies had offered Kusal Perera and Rangana Herath close to $70,000 to lose the Test match, which was played at Galle in October.

“They wanted Sri Lanka to get out early for a very low score. This is a match Sri Lanka was expected to win, but if they lost, the bookie would have made a lot of money. After Kusal turned down the offer, the man approached Herath who also rejected the offer and alerted the authorities,” he stated.

The minister said that Sri Lanka cricket board had started an anti-corruption probe, to look into the matter, alongside a policy inquiry by the government. “We have started a police inquiry in addition to an anti-corruption probe by Sri Lanka Cricket.”

The Test match at Galle saw the hosts comprehensive beat West Indies by an innings and 6 runs, thanks to Herath’s 10-wicket haul in the match. The visitors eventually lost the Test series 2-0.

Jayasekara feared that this match-fixing incident may have been linked to the recent doping charges against Kusal Perera, who had rejected the bookie offer, and hinted at possible foul play in connection with the two incidents.

“It is possible that something was slipped into his food or his urine sample was tampered with to get this result. We are doing our best to defend him(Perera),” he remarked.

However, despite these dangerous state of things, Sri Lankan cricket Chief Executive Ashley de Silva said that they were not at a liberty to openly divulge more information about the same, due to ICC’s strict Anti-corruption regulations.