With Sri Lanka gaining notoriety as a fertile ground for match fixing in cricket, an Indian fixer named Akash Patel has been sentenced to four years in prison and fined Rs 85 million for nudging retired batsman Upul Tharanga to fix a match at last year’s Legends League played in Kandy.
Patel is currently absconding and was sentenced in absentia by the Matale High Court on Tuesday.
He is reported to have fled the country and an investigation is in progress to ascertain how he escaped.
He managed one of the franchise teams taking part in the Legends League.
Patel has also being ordered to pay Tharanga Rs 2 million for dragging the former Sri Lanka batter and current chairman of Selectors into the notorious match fixing syndrome.
Tharanga represented Sri Lanka in 31 Tests, 235 ODI matches and 26 T20 Internationals.
He wore the Sri Lanka cap for the last time at an ODI against South Afruca at Cape Town before calling it a day in March 2019.
