2011 World Cup: No reason to doubt integrity of final, says ICC ACU head
Dubai: The ICC on Friday said there is no reason to doubt the integrity of the 2011 World Cup final in which India defeated Sri Lanka, asserting that it has not been provided any evidence that would merit an investigation into the game.
The world body's statement came after Sri Lanka Police's special investigation division on Friday called off a probe into allegations by former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage that the final was fixed by "certain parties" in Sri Lanka. the police said it found evidence supporting Aluthgamage's unsubstantiated claims.
"We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Final 2011," ICC's Anti Corruption Unit General Manager Alex Marshall said in a statement. "The ICC Integrity Unit has looked into the recent allegations regarding the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Final 2011," Marshall said. "At this time, we have not been presented with any evidence that supports the claims made or which would merit launching an investigation under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code," the ACU head further stated.
The former Sri Lankan Sports Minister's claims that the ICC was sent a letter alleging fixing was also rubbished by Marshall.
"There is no record of any letter regarding this matter sent by the then Sri Lanka Sports Minister to the ICC and senior ICC staff at the time have confirmed they have no recollection of receiving any such letter which would have led to an investigation," Marshall said. He reiterated that ICC takes all allegations of match-fixing seriously.
"We take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously and should we receive any evidence to corroborate the claims, we will review our current position." "If anyone has any evidence that this match or any other has been subject to match-fixing, we would urge them to get in contact with the ICC Integrity team," Marshall said while concluding the statement.
Three former Sri Lanka captains Aravinda D'Silva (chairman of selectors during the 2011 World Cup), Kumar Sangakkara (captain) and Mahela Jayawardene (centurion in the final) recorded their statements before the probe was called off.
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CM Siddaramaiah to present his record 17th Budget on Mar 6
Bengaluru (PTI): The Budget Session of the Karnataka Legislature will begin here on Friday, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presenting the Budget for 2026-27, his record 17th as the state's finance minister.
This is another feat for Siddaramaiah, who recently surpassed D Devaraj Urs's record to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka.
However, this has come amid speculation over a possible change of Chief Minister after the Budget session, citing a "power-sharing" arrangement between him and his deputy D K Shivakumar, at the time of the government formation in 2023.
According to official sources, Siddaramaiah as the finance minister, faces a "tightrope walk" as he must negotiate between containing the revenue deficit and funding his government's populist guarantee schemes ('Shakti', 'Gruha Lakshmi', 'Gruha Jyoti', 'Yuva Nidhi' and 'Anna Bhagya').
Faced with a revenue shortfall amid rising expenditure commitments, he has a task cut out to maneuver the state's finances while maintaining fiscal discipline.
As the CM is expected to look for resource mobilisation measures, speculations are rife that there may be an increase in taxes.
There are calls to trim the outlay on the 'guarantee' schemes, with annual spending for the five schemes exceeding Rs 50,000 crore. In 2025-26, the government allocated Rs 51,034 crore for the guarantee schemes.
Also to be factored in is an increase in the government's expenses like salaries, as it has decided to recruit for 56,432 vacant jobs.
The government expects a revenue shortfall of Rs 18,000 crore in the current fiscal (2025-26) due to factors like GST rate rationalisation among others, official sources said.
The total expenditure for 2025-26 was estimated to be Rs 4.09 lakh crore. However this may be lowered to about Rs 3.9 lakh crore, they said.
As per the 2025-26 Budget Estimates, the state's total liabilities by the end of March 2026 are projected at Rs 7,64,655 crore, which constitutes 24.91 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the government has said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka on Thursday took a dig at CM Siddaramaiah ahead of the state Budget presentation, claiming that the government is expected to borrow Rs 1.15 lakh crore and is likely to impose fresh taxes on the people.
He said the Budget would have nothing new, adding that its highlights would be criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and repeated mentions of the five guarantee schemes.
The opposition is also expected to corner the government during the session on a host of issues, including the implementation of internal reservation among SCs during the recruitment process it decided to undertake -- the issue on which there is a rift between SC (Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress.
Alleged diversion of Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) funds to fund guarantee schemes, irregularities in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Mains examination and selection process, developmental issues, irrigation projects, and law and order are among the other issues on which the opposition is likely to target the government.
Several Bills, including an amendment to the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, aimed at allowing vehicles used for illegal transport of cattle to be released on an indemnity bond, and the Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Place of Gathering) Bill, 2025, which was referred to a select committee, are likely to be tabled during the session.
