Kumar Sangakkara wants Hashan Tillakaratne to work with ICC to eliminate corruption

The star Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman, Kumar Sangakkara has asked the former captain, Hashan Tillakaratne, to act with responsibility and work with the concerned authorities if he has some evidence of match-fixing in Sri Lankan cricket. The former player claimed to reveal some big names, who were involved in the wrong doings, in the coming days.

Sangakkarra stated, “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.”

The veteran player further added, “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.”

Tillakaratne had claimed that match-fixing was a part of cricket in Sri Lanka since 1992 and there were big names involved in corruption. He blamed the politicians and senior officials to be responsible for the situation in the country, saying they played a huge part in involving players in wrong doings.

The former player further predicted that his national team would soon be in a similar situation like Pakistan, who suffered a lot due to match-fixing scandals in the recent past.

The allegations from Tillakaratne were followed by some strong reaction by the officials and players in Sri Lanka. Chairman of cricket in the country, DS de Silva, was unhappy with the situation and claimed to investigate the matter.

Senior batsman, Mahela Jayawardene, was also not pleased with the comments from his countryman and demanded evidence from him. He said it was not right to just blame anyone of wrong doings without giving any proof.

However, there was some support for Tillakaratne from a former Pakistan captain, Rashid Latif. The agile wicket-keeper batsman also remained in the news for bold statements throughout his career. He claimed to be close to the former Sri Lankan captain and was aware of the corruption in Subcontinent teams.

According to Rashid, there were some big players from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka involved in match-fixing and it would be a bold step to reveal their names.