Kambli claims India-Sri Lanka WC semifinal may have been fixed

Kambli claims India-Sri Lanka WC semifinal may have been fixed

New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli on Thursday made the shocking allegation that he suspected that the 1996 World Cup semi-final played between India and Sri Lanka may have been fixed.  A visibly emotional Kambli made the statement while participating in a STAR News debate on ex-chief of ICC anti-corruption unit Paul Condon's statement that in the 90s and in the following years all of cricket's leading countries were involved in fixing major matches.

 Kambli said he was suspicious of the captain’s (Mohammed Azharuddin) decision to field first even though it had been unanimously decided that the team would bat after winning the toss. India lost the match against the Lankans who shocked the cricketing world by winning the 1996 World Cup. 

He added that he was the main batsman left on the crease and could not take the spectacle when the Indian batting order crushed like a pack of cards. The cricketer burst into tears as he recalled that he was removed from the team after the game. “I cried because I thought I was robbed of a chance to do it for my country. The entire team hugged me. Most of us were crying, he recalled.” A visibly emotional Kambli went on to clarify that he had never betrayed his country.

It was one of India’s most heart-breaking defeats in ODI history with cricket pundits attributing the loss to Indian skipper Azharuddin for inviting Sri Lanka to bat. Skipper Mohammed Azharuddin and key batsman Ajay Jadeja were out without scoring. Both the players served ICC imposed ban for match fixing later. Mohammed Azharuddin was forced to retire later in his career because of his involvement in a match-fixing scandal

 Kambli’s Contentions:

• Why India chose to field despite the unanimous decision that India would bat in the event of winning the toss on a batting pitch?
• Why batsmen were quickly falling on the other end inspite of the fact that he was holding out and telling them to go slow?
• He says he still can’t fathom how six wickets fell within 22 runs. (That day's scoreboard)
•  Wickets1-8 (Sidhu), 2-98 (Tendulkar), 3-99 (Azharuddin), 4-101 (Manjrekar), 5-110 (Srinath), 6-115 (Jadeja), 7-120 (Mongia), 8-120 (Kapoor).
  
  Kambli's Account of Events:
  
  I will never forget the 1996 match because my career ended after this and I was dropped from the game. I was stunned by India’s decision to field. I was standing on one side and on the other end my fellow batsman was telling me that we would chase the target. However, soon after they quickly got out one by one. I don’t know what transpired.
  
  “Something was definitely amiss. However, I was not given a chance to speak and was dropped soon after. Our team manager at that time Ajit Wadekar was aware of everything. He had even written an article afterwards that Vinod Kambli had been made a scapegoat.
  
   “We had been playing well during the entire World Cup and even defeated the likes of West Indies and Pakistan to reach the semifinal. Howver, his sudden exit from the game is bound to raise suspicion. Our openers were all set to bat, however, at the nick of time, we learnt we had to field. I got a huge shock after learning this.
  
   “I cried because I thought I was robbed of a chance to do it for my country. The entire team hugged me. Most of us were crying, he recalled. It was not only Tendulkar and other cricketers' dream to win the Cup but mine too,” he added.

Sri Lanka won the first semi-final over India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd unofficially estimated at 110 000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to throw fruit and plastic bottles onto the field. The players left the field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were lit in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri Lanka, the first default ever in Test or One Day International.

 At the fall of the 8th Indian wicket, sections of the crowd vented their disgust with the state of the match by setting fire to some areas of the stands and throwing fruit and waterbottles onto the field. The match was briefly stopped and when play was about to resume, the crowd again threw bottles at the deep fielders. The match referee stopped the game and the game was awarded to Sri Lanka by default.