Sting operation claims ''pitch fixed'' during India-Lanka Test, ICC starts probe : The Tribune India

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Sting operation claims ''pitch fixed'' during India-Lanka Test, ICC starts probe

CHANDIGARH:Another sting operation, more skeletons tumble out from cricket’s cupboard — and yes, there’s an Indian connection.

Sting operation claims ''pitch fixed'' during India-Lanka Test, ICC starts probe

In the sting operation, men identified by Al Jazeera as cricketer Robin Morris and groundsman Tharanga Indika claim that they doctored pitches.



Chandigarh, May 26

Another sting operation, more skeletons tumble out from cricket’s cupboard — and yes, there’s an Indian connection.

After a sting operation, the Al Jazeera TV network has claimed last year’s Test match between India and Sri Lanka at Galle was played on a pitch doctored at the behest of match-fixers. 

The TV channel said the sting operation also found that the pitch used for the Sri Lanka-Australia Test at Galle in 2016 was also doctored. 

There is no suggestion that any of the players involved in these Test matches had any knowledge of the pitch-fixing.

Indian hand

In the sting operation, former Mumbai first-class cricketer Robin Morris and Sri Lankan groundsman Tharanga Indika, assistant manager at the Galle stadium, were recorded secretly. In it, Morris admits his involvement in bribing Indika to alter the pitch.

The recording of the sting operation will be broadcast tomorrow, but clippings from it were posted online on the website of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera.

In the recording, Indika says he can make pitches to favour either bowlers or batsmen. “If you want a pitch for spin bowling or pace bowling or batting, it can be done,” he says.

In a video recorded at a Galle hotel, Morris gestures towards Indika and says: “What happens is he, we, can make a pitch to do whatever we want it do to. Because he’s the main curator. He is the assistant manager and curator of the Galle stadium.”

The match

In last year’s Galle Test match, the first of the series, India made 600 & 240/3 declared, and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 291 & 245, losing by 304 runs.

In secretly-recorded footage, Indika says the pitch had been prepared to suit batsmen: “India was set for a batting wicket. We pressed the wicket thoroughly with a roller and then, we put water on it to make it even harder.”

The channel said that the batting pitch ensured a big score in the first innings, and with prior knowledge, “criminals could bet on a first innings total higher than the bookmakers’ prediction”.

SL vs Australia

In the August 2016 Galle Test match, Australia were bowled out for 106 and 183, losing by 229 runs. Sri Lanka’s spinners took 18 Australian wickets in the match. Indika was reportedly paid $37,000 to doctor the pitch. In the sting, Morris invites Al Jazeera’s undercover reporter enter into a deal for future fixes: “I have the information. I will give it to you. And you can bet good money, big time.”

Denials

Indika and Morris have denied any involvement in pitch-fixing. Morris said that Al Jazeera had invited him to audition for a role in a movie “for public entertainment only”. Indika said any conversations he had with Al Jazeera journalists were due to him being courteous to foreign tourists.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it is investigating the matter. “We have already launched an investigation working with anti-corruption colleagues from the member countries based on the limited information we have received,” ICC GM (Anti-Corruption Unit) Alex Marshall said in a statement. 

— TNS, Agencies

Fix or no fix?

The 2 Galle Tests

2nd Test, Aus vs SL  (Aug 4-6, 2016)

Sri Lanka: 281 (Mendis 86; Starc 5/44) & 237 (Perera 64; Starc 6/50)

Australia: 106 (Warner 42; Herath 4/35, Perera 4/29) & 183 (Warner 41; Perera 6/70)

1st Test, Ind vs SL (Jul 26-29, 2017)

India: 600 (Dhawan 190, Pujara 153) & 240/3d (Kohli 103)

Sri Lanka: 291 (Perera 92; Jadeja 3/67) & 245 (Karunaratne 97, Dickwella 67; Ashwin 3/65)

Credible claims?

How credible are the claims made by Robin Morris and Tharanga Indika? The Al Jazeera report claims that a batting-friendly wicket was made for the India Test and a spin-friendly one for the Australia Test. But it is very likely that Sri Lankan team had indeed specifically requested for such wickets — Australia’s vulnerability against spin is well-known. 

Is it possible that Morris and Indika were simply trying to rope in gullible people, ie the undercover Al Jazeera reporters? We’ll be in a better position to judge when the full report is broadcast.

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