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Upul Tharanga, former Sri Lankan cricketer and the current Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket's Selection Committee was given a respite against the arrest as the Court of Appeal issued an injunction. It should be noted that, on October 8, 2024, the Matale High Court issued an arrest warrant as he failed to appear in court regarding a match-fixing case linked to the 2024 Legends Cricket Tournament.
Interestingly, Tharanga himself filed the case but left for the USA for cricket-related activities without notifying the court. The veteran Sri Lankan opener, who announced his retirement from international cricket in 2021 after serving the team for 15 years, had a brief stint leading the team. He played 31 Tests, scoring 1754 runs at an average of 21.89, including three centuries and eight fifties. He scored an impressive 6951 runs in ODIs with an average of 33.74.
Upul Tharanga’s match-fixing fiasco
Upul Tharanga who represents the Kandy Samp Army team along with former New Zealand legend Neil Broom, who represented Punjab Royals, had filed complaints against the Cricket Team Manager of the Legend Cricket League 2024, Yoni Patel pressuring them to engage in match-fixing deals during the series. Yoni was earlier indicted by the Colombo High Court over the match-fixing charges.
The initial investigation revealed that an alleged match-fixer had approached players from different teams with a monetary offer to under-perform in the respective matches. The Colombo Magistrate had also issued a travel ban on Yoni Patel along with the team manager P. Akash.
The Legend Cricket League 2024, which took place at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy's Central province mountains from March 8 to 19, featured seven teams made up of former international cricket players from England, Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia, India, and the West Indies.
