Pitch-fixing: India v/s Sri Lanka test match in July 2017 was fixed, claims report

International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched an investigation into the allegations of pitch-fixing during two cricket test matches in Galle.

Two test matches played played at Galle International Stadium in Sri Lanka, including the match between Sri Lanka and India in July last year, were fixed, according to Al Jazeera. International Cricket Council (ICC) has laready launched an investigation into the allegations.

According to the report, the fixers were caught on camera during an undercover investigation planning to fix a third test match. The fixing was done by doctoring the condition of the pitches. The other fixed match was Sri Lanka v/s Australia in August 2016.

Both matches were played at Galle International Stadium in Sri Lanka.

In secretly filmed meetings, the match-fixers also said that they were planning to fix England's game against Sri Lanka, also at Galle, in November this year.

Batting wickets for India match, bowling wicket for Australia

The documentary "Cricket's Match-Fixers" will be telecast on Al Jazeera and will be available to watch online on Sunday at 10:00 GMT (3:30 PM IST).

According to reports the documentary will show Robin Morris, a match-fixer from Mumbai, telling undercover reporters that he bribed the groundsman at Galle to doctor the pitch to ensure guaranteed outcomes. Morris is former first-class cricketer from Maharashtra.

The groundsman, Tharanga Indika, assistant manager at the Galle stadium, says he can make pitches to favour either bowlers or batsmen.

Asked if he could fix the surface so a draw would be impossible, Indika replies: "Yes, I can. I can confirm it in advance one week before."

Indika told the undercover team that for the India match at Galle he made a pitch for batsmen. "India was set for a batting wicket."

"We pressed the wicket thoroughly with a roller and then we put water on it to make it even harder," he says in the documentary.

The batting pitch ensured a high score in the first innings so the criminals could bet on a first innings total higher than the bookmakers' prediction.

In the event, India scored a massive 600 runs in their first innings – and the match-fixers made a large profit.

Indika says he made a pitch for bowlers for the Australia match .

"In that five-day match, we prepared the wicket poorly without using a roller. In that way we made a spinning wicket."

The "bowling pitch" ensured that the game would not last for the full five days and so the game would not end in a draw.

The match-fixers made money by betting that the game would not end in a draw.  

England v/s Sri Lanka next

According to the report, the match fixers were caught discussing plans to rig England's first test on their tour of Sri Lanka. 

They offered the undercover reporter a deal for future fixes. Morris wanted no money up front but 30 percent of the reporter’s winnings, claims the report. 

When reporter asked the match-fixer when the next pitch-fix will be carried out at the stadium, Morris replied, "England v/s Sri Lanka." 

England are due to play Sri Lanka at Galle in November 2018. 

According to Al Jazeera, Morris had denies any wrongdoing and said that Al Jazeera had invited him to audition for a role in a movie "for public entertainment only".

Indika also denied any involvement in pitch-fixing and said that any conversations he had with Al Jazeera journalists was just to be courteous to foreign tourists.

The report said that there was no suggestion that any of the players involved in these Test matches had any knowledge of the pitch-fixing.