Kambli claims Lanka's 1996 World Cup win fixed

Former cricketer Vinod Kambli has raised suspicions that the World Cup semifinal in 1996 where Sri Lanka were awarded victory against India following crowd violence at Eden Gardens may have been fixed.

“I was stunned by India’s decision to field,” Kambli told Star News during a debate on former ICC anti-corruption unit chief Paul Condon’s claim that many teams were monitored for fixing in the late 1990s.

Kambli, who scored 1084 runs in 17 Tests and 2,477 runs in 104 ODIs for India, said he was suspicious of then captain Mohammed Azharuddin’s decision to field first in the semifinal which was eventually awarded to Sri Lanka because of crowd problem.
 
Sri Lanka led by Arjuna Ranatunga eventually went on to win the World Cup for the first time defeating Australia in the final in Lahore, Pakistan.

Kambli claims that his suspicion arose due to Azharuddin’s decision to field first even though it was unanimously decided that the team would bat after winning the toss.
 
“I will never forget the 1996 match because my career ended after this and I was dropped from the team. I was stunned by India’s decision to field,” Kambli said.

“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,” he said.
 
Wadekar, who was the team manager then, said the game was clean.

Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin surprisingly chose to bowl first.

“I did not even think there was anything suspicious in that loss. It was purely because we misread the wicket and were slightly overconfident after beating Pakistan in the quarter-final,” Wadekar told Hindustan Times.
 
“Why did he wake up suddenly after 15 years? During my four-and-half year stint (with the national team), I used to frequently have dinner with Vinod. Had he told me about his suspicions then, I would have requested the board to probe the matter.”
 
Kambli, who watched the batsmen fall like ninepins, said it’s decided in the team meeting that India would bat first if they won the toss.
 
Wadekar said: “During the team meeting, only (Navjot Singh) Sidhu and I felt the wicket would deteriorate and that we should bat first. However, a majority of the bunch felt a wicket couldn't deteriorate much."
 
The Indian cricket board secretary Sanjay Jagdale declined to respond to Kambli's allegations.

Kambli said he was shocked when it came to know that they have to field when everybody was mentally prepared to bat.
 
“We had been playing well during the entire World Cup and even defeated the likes of West Indies and Pakistan to reach the semifinal. 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,” he said.
 
“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 semifinal over India at the Eden Gardens when chasing a total of 251 for 8, the hosts slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over and that led to crowd disturbance.
 
The players left the field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quiet the crowd. When the players returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field, forcing Match referee Clive Lloyd to award the match to Sri Lanka, the first default ever in Test or one-day international.
 

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