The Indian Premier League (IPL) fixing and betting scandal resulted in the two-year ban for the franchises like Rajasthan Royals (CSK) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the year 2015. The 2019 documentary ‘Roar of the Lion’, directed by Kabir Khan, “is a classic tale of the triumph of the human spirit” that has been able to amalgamate the story of how the Chennai Super Kings made their IPL comeback under skipper MS Dhoni.
CSK and RR were banned from participation in the 2016 and 2017 season after their owners were found guilty in an illegal betting and match-fixing scandal. In July 2015, the RM Lodha committee suspended India Cements and Jaipur IPL for a period of two years. While India Cements was running Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals were owned the Jaipur IPL. As part of the punishment, Gurunath Meiyappan, a former team official of CSK, was also banned for life.
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However, in the documentary, Dhoni is the regular member as it follows the human emotions of not just the members of CSK but also of their fans. While ‘Roar of the Lion’ is rooted in the two-year time span when CSK was banned for match-fixing, the captain was seen talking about the rise of CSK, their fall and then the comeback that climaxed with another IPL title [2018 edition] to their name.
Dhoni revealed that he and the players were questioned for the wrongdoings of the franchise owners. He said: “It was a mixed feeling then because you take a lot of things personally and, as a captain, question what did the team do wrong. Yes, there was wrongdoing but were players or team members involved in this? What mistake did we make that we have to go through all of that?”
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The CSK skipper voiced his take on the entire incident, he explained, “Whatever I am today, whatever I have achieved is because of cricket. So the biggest crime that I can commit personally is not murder but match-fixing. It is not something that one person can do alone. If my name is involved in such a thing, it has a bigger impact. If people think a match is fixed based on the improbability of an outcome, then people lose their faith in cricket. I don’t think ever in my life I would deal with something that is harder than this.”
