Roar of the Lion/Captain or Silence of the Stands?
Captain Cool MS Dhoni elaborates the turn of events that led to the unfortunate banning of the franchise for 2 years.
Cricket, a legacy of the British, is something which Indians have perfected over the years more than the British. The rise of cricket from the Test-playing days to the modern day T20 era is never devoid of a major event, whether it is the breaking of a record, the retirement of a player or a World Cup victory. The game itself has seen numerous revolutionary changes in its formats, especially with the introduction of the ODI format followed by an even shorter 20 over format, along with the UDRS (Umpire Decision Review System). The T20’s success was quickly followed by the introduction of the Indian Premier League which pitted teams against one another with a tang of regionalism.
The Indian Premier League has not been without controversies of its own, mainly spot-fixing and betting alongside others. The years 2016 and 2017 saw the unmistakable absence of Chennai Super Kings, a team with Mahendra Singh Dhoni at its helm, owing to a ban due to spot-fixing. In a new series released titled Roar of the Lion released by Hotstar, Captain Cool MS Dhoni elaborates the turn of events that led to the unfortunate banning of the franchise for 2 years. The opening line of the trailer has Dhoni speaking the words, “As a cricketer, the biggest crime that I can commit is not murder, it actually matches fixing” with video snippets of fans cheering their heart out for their favorite team. The episode moves on to footage from the 2018 IPL edition when the CSK team was ferried to their home stadium at Chepauk amidst ecstatic fans, whom Dhoni describes as strongly loyal and supportive of their team. There are exclusive interviews with CSK team members like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and other non-player entities in the CSK team like N. Srinivasan, Matthew Hayden, and Ayaz Memon, as well as with CSK fans. Evidently, there is some discussion of the spot-fixing and match-fixing issue which has marred IPL for so long.
Giving one an insider’s perspective is probably the primary objective of Roar of the Lion since it relies on first-hand accounts through interviews and footage. The description provided by Dhoni is quite apt like the CSK team’s tagline for 2018, “Tirumbi vantuten soll-u” (Tell them that we are back), which mirrors their dedication in their victory in IPL 2018. It is no surprise that the series will be as popular as Dhoni-led CSK, as has been seen by the 10,000 strong crowds present for CSK’s practice session.