LAHORE : Former captain of the Sri Lankan team,Arjuna Ranatunga has also jumped into the arena opened by histeam-mate Hashan Tillekaratne and vowed to expose cricketersinvolved in match-fixing. Ranatunga, t
he captain of the World Cup-1996 winner team, is expected to hold a press conference in next couple of days to reveal startling details about the match-fixing mafia in cricket. According to reports, three former players, Sanath Jayasuriya,Roshan Mahanama and Asanka Gurusinha had been approached by anI ndian bookie in 1992 during one of the Test matches of the home series between Sri Lanka and Australia. They all turned down theoffer and reported the matter to the then former board chief,Tyronne Fernando (who passed away in 2008). Roshan Mahanama is inthe ICC's elite panel of match referees. Another former Sri Lanka team-mate, who declined to disclose his name, didn't rule out the possibility of the 1991 Asia Cup matchesbeing fixed. "I am suspicious about at least two Asia Cup matches",he said on condition of anonymity. Look at the results of theIndia-Sri Lanka match in Cuttack, where Sri Lanka won by 36 runs andthe Kolkata final which was won by India. "How on earth could Sri Lanka have won the Cuttack match before losing in the final", theformer player wondered? He said the Sri Lankan players had no moneyt hen. Only the Indian bookies used to approach them", he added. When specifically asked, why he did not disclose this for twentylong years, he explained: the truth would not have been out by meeven now had this not been revealed by Tillekaratne. Arjuna was Tillekaratne's captain when the latter made thissensational revelation (last week) about Lankan players' involvementin fixing matches since 1992. Interestingly both now sit together inopposition parties and their "common goal" may be understandable.Ranatunga, the World Cup winning captain (1996) also headed the SriLanka Cricket Board (2008). PPI