Sri Lankan minister willing to probe 2011 World Cup final

What's the story?

A few days after former Sri Lankan captain Arjan Ranatunga claimed that the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka was fixed, a minister in Sri Lanka is willing to further dwell into the issue.

Speaking to reporters ahead of India's tour to Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said he is willing to order a probe on the final.

"Let anyone make a written complain I am ready to order an investigation," Jayasekera told reporters.

In case you didn't know...

Ranatunga, who was a part of the commentary panel for the final claimed that the final was fixed with a few players involved in doing so.

Ranatunga felt that the time had come now for these players to confess on what happened and the investigations to be done.

As we all remember, the Sri Lankan side had set a total of 275 for India to win which India managed to do so with ease in the end with six wickets in hand.

The former Sri Lankan captain was the one to instigate a probe into the final and his comments were in response to Kumar Sangakkara who wanted a probe into Sri Lanka's infamous tour to Pakistan in 2009 which saw their team bus attacked by a group of terrorists.

The Details:

The Sri Lankan Sports Minister's comments were made after his predecessor make claims about strange behaviour among the Sri Lankan cricketers on the night of the world cup final.

Mahindananda Aluthgamage who was also present at the match too went on to say that the Sri Lankan players surrendered the match to India on that day.

He also made claims to a local TV channel that a senior Sri Lankan player had smoked as many as 50 cigarettes on the night of the final in the dressing room.

Author's take:

The probe into the final seems a bit delayed coming six years after the final. If these ministers were so sure of what occurred on that night, the probe should have been made a long time back.

However, as a viewer, the final did not seem fixed. It was a well-fought encounter with the Indian batsmen getting the better of the opposition bowlers. It did not seem, at any point during the match that the Sri Lankan bowlers underperformed or gave away runs to the Indian batsmen.