Opening up on the 2013 IPL fixing scandal that led to the suspension of Chennai Super Kings for two years, Dhoni talks about how that period was the most difficult and depressing phase of his life, in the docudrama titled “Roar of the Lion” which describes in detail the scandal involving the club’s suspension and their subsequent comeback in two years.
In the first episode of “Roar of the Lion” that was broadcast on Hotstar, Dhoni stated, “2013 was the most difficult phase in my life, I was never depressed as much as I was then. The closest was 2007 World Cup when we lost in the group stages. But all said and done, 2007 happened because we did not play good cricket. But 2013, the angle was completely different. People are talking about match fixing and spot fixing. It was the most talked about thing in the country. We did deserve the punishment but the only thing is the quantum of the punishment. There was a mixed feeling that time. Yes, there was mistake from our side [the franchise] but were the players involved in this? What mistake did we, as players, do to go through all of that?”
In the episode titled ‘What did we do wrong?’ Dhoni expressed his sorrow over a number of players who had no involvement in the spot fixing whatsoever penalised for the same. He also talks about how even his name came up in the transgression.