Senanayake (38), who played one Test, 49 ODIs and 24 T20 Internationals fir the island nation between 2012 and 2016, has been accused of trying to fix matches during the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020.

The court prevented Senanayake from leaving the country for three months following the Attorney General’s (AG) directions to Sports Ministry’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to press criminal charges against the former off-spinner.

The AG has ruled that sufficient materials have been found under the Prevention of Offences related to Sports Act No. 24 of 2019. The direction on framing criminal charges came following several rounds of discussions between the General Manager of International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), Alex Marshall, Sri Lankan cricket authorities, and the state attorneys representing the Attorney General.

It is alleged that Senanayake had approached two cricketers in the first edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020 via telephone from Dubai to fix matches.

Senanayake’s case will be the first since corruption in sports was made a punishable criminal offence in Sri Lanka under the Prevention of Offences related to Sports Act in 2019.

Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to introduce laws on sports related offences and corruption.

However the 38-year-old former cricketer, who has taken 78 international wickets in 73 white-ball matches for Sri Lanka, had denied all the allegations, terming them as baseless charges aimed at defaming him and his family.

The cricketer has also threatened to take legal action.

In 2021, the cricketer had filed an anticipatory bail plea with the Colombo Magistrate seeking protection from arrest, which was turned down.

Sabry was briefing the media here on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India on July 20-21, his first since assuming office last year. He held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

“We have considered the possibility of using the Indian rupees like we accept the dollar, euro and yen,” he said.

Allowing its direct use would prevent the need for multiple currency conversions for Indian tourists and businessmen.

On Friday, the two countries noted that the decision to designate INR as currency for trade settlements between the two countries has forged stronger and mutually-beneficial commercial linkages, and agreed to operationalise the Unified Payments Interface-based digital payments for further enhancing trade and transactions between businesses and common people.

The two countries signed the Network to Network Agreement between NIPL and Lanka Pay for UPI application acceptance in Sri Lanka after bilateral talks between Modi and Wickremesinghe.

On an MoU signed with India on the development of Trincomalee as a regional hub for industry, energy and bilateral cooperation, Sabry saw no objections coming from China.

“We are a non-aligned state, we have only signed an MoU to identify feasible projects through a joint committee. I don’t think any country would object to such open and transparent dealings,” Sabry said.

Sabry said both leaders agreed on the importance of port connectivity between the two countries.

“To reach the next level, we need investments. We discussed ways which would be mutually beneficial to both countries. The tie-ups between not only the two governments but between the private sector were emphasised,” Sabry said.

He said the possibility of Sri Lanka benefiting from the vast economic development in the South Indian region was considered.

“The two leaders agreed for connectivity between the ports for this purpose”, Sabry said.

The need for port connectivity between Colombo and Trincomalee and the South Indian region was agreed between the two leaders.

He said the necessary studies on building a bridge for land connectivity or continuing with the existing ferry services would be soon undertaken. Getting an Indian university on board to help in Sri Lanka’s digitalisation was also discussed, he added.