Sanath Jayasuriya: World Cup-winning captain who is charged with corruption

Jayasuriya arguably changed the face of modern limited overs cricket, with he and his fellow opener, Romesh Kaluwitharana, adopting an aggressive approach to power play batting that proved revolutionary at the time and was a key factor in Sri Lanka’s stunning triumph at the 1996 World Cup.

Named as the player of the tournament in 1996, Sanath has scored 21 centuries and took 323 wickets in 445 one-day internationals. He also averaged 40.07 runs in 110 Test matches. 

The pioneer former opener was charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching its anti-corruption code.

The accusations against the 49-year-old former batsman relate to failure or refusal to co-operate with an ongoing ICC investigation into alleged match-fixing in the country.

He is also charged for concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant.

He has been given 14 days to respond to the charges.

The investigation surrounds events during Jayasuriya’s second spell as Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors, from April 2016 to August 2017, with suspicions over the fourth ODI between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Hambantota in July last year, a match won by the tourists en route to a 3-2 series victory, prompting the investigation.

For the first half-decade of his career, Sanath Jayasuriya was considered a bowler who could bat a bit.

But today, he is the only player to score over 12,000 runs and capture more than 300 wickets in One Day International cricket, and hence regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the history of limited-overs cricket.

He retired from Test cricket in December 2007 and from limited overs cricket in June 2011. On 28 January 2013, Sri Lanka Cricket appointed him as the chairman of cricket selection committee. Sri Lanka won the ICC World Twenty20 for the first time in 2014, during his tenure as the chief selector.

He ran for public office at the 2010 Sri Lankan general elections and was elected to the parliament from his native Matara District.[10] He topped the UPFA parliamentary election list for Matara district by obtaining 74,352 preferential votes.