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Leo: The Untold Story of Chennai Super Kings
Since its inception, the IPL has transformed cricket, redefining the sport with its franchisebased format, skyrocketing viewership, and unparalleled fan frenzy. With each new season, discussions and excitement only continue to grow.
Yet, amid its meteoric rise, the tournament has witnessed both highs and lows. Few teams have embodied this journey more than the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), led by the charismatic and legendary M.S. Dhoni. CSK’s story is one of resilience—marked by triumphs, setbacks, and an unforgettable comeback. From clinching titles to facing a shocking twoyear suspension, the team has endured intense scrutiny, including allegations of betting, and controversies of conflict of interest.
But what really happened behind the scenes?
Author P.S. Raman, closely associated with the team and its owners since the franchise’s inception, offers an insider’s perspective on the early years of the IPL and the events leading up to CSK’s ban. With deep insights into the legal battles, gripping anecdotes, and fascinating trivia, this book presents a compelling, behindthescenes look at one of cricket’s most iconic teams.
Building a league of this scale has been a steep learning curve for the IPL, filled with exhilarating highs and turbulent lows. Yet, no team has endured as much as CSK.
For IPL fans—especially the diehard CSK faithful—this book is an essential read, offering a fresh, gripping narrative of the team’s extraordinary journey.
Yet, amid its meteoric rise, the tournament has witnessed both highs and lows. Few teams have embodied this journey more than the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), led by the charismatic and legendary M.S. Dhoni. CSK’s story is one of resilience—marked by triumphs, setbacks, and an unforgettable comeback. From clinching titles to facing a shocking twoyear suspension, the team has endured intense scrutiny, including allegations of betting, and controversies of conflict of interest.
But what really happened behind the scenes?
Author P.S. Raman, closely associated with the team and its owners since the franchise’s inception, offers an insider’s perspective on the early years of the IPL and the events leading up to CSK’s ban. With deep insights into the legal battles, gripping anecdotes, and fascinating trivia, this book presents a compelling, behindthescenes look at one of cricket’s most iconic teams.
Building a league of this scale has been a steep learning curve for the IPL, filled with exhilarating highs and turbulent lows. Yet, no team has endured as much as CSK.
For IPL fans—especially the diehard CSK faithful—this book is an essential read, offering a fresh, gripping narrative of the team’s extraordinary journey.
275 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2025
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 10, 2025
I picked up this book with some expectations. After all, it’s about CSK.
It claimed to be an insider’s account of the highs and lows, from title triumphs to the darkest chapters of suspension. What it actually turned out to be was one of the worst books I’ve ever subjected myself to.
First, let’s be clear.. this is not a “behind the scenes” account in any sense of the phrase. It is not insightful, not revealing, not even remotely engaging.
Instead, 75% of the book reads like a laundry list of match reports and scorecard summaries. When it does attempt to address the real elephant in the room, the betting scandal and CSK’s ban, it becomes nothing more than an embarrassing apologia for Srini mama and his son-in-law. The author bends over backwards to justify crimes with the most laughable arguments: from citing gambling in the Mahabharata to cherry-picking legal technicalities. It’s sycophancy of the highest order, bordering on propaganda.
And as if the spin wasn’t insulting enough, the sheer incompetence of the writing makes this an even bigger disaster. The factual errors are relentless. Page after page is littered with mistakes that a 5 minute Wikipedia skim would’ve avoided. Did no one even bother proofreading this? Or was the bar for accuracy and quality set so low because the only goal was to publish a puff piece for Srini mama?
A small sample of the blunders: apparently Sehwag played for Punjab in the early seasons, Boucher captained RCB in 2009, the IPL playoffs are modeled on the “European” football league (whatever that’s supposed to mean), the 2011 CLT20 final was between CSK and MI, McCullum had retired from internationals before IPL 2014 and CSK supposedly took the “prized” wicket of Arshdeep Singh in powerplay. This isn’t just sloppy, it’s insulting to any reader with half a memory of cricket.
As a lifelong CSK fan, even I found the author’s defense of Gurunath and Srini mama unbearable. Do I agree with the 2 year ban? Hell no! The players and team didn’t deserve that punishment for the crimes of the owners. A fairer outcome would’ve been to force the owners to sell (the way the UK govt forced Abramovich to give up Chelsea).
But this book doesn’t even attempt nuance, it simply tries to whitewash the scandal, and in doing so, makes a mockery of both CSK and cricket fans.
If you want to relive CSK’s history, watch a highlights reel on the IPL website, you’ll get more insight, more accuracy and far less torture.
It claimed to be an insider’s account of the highs and lows, from title triumphs to the darkest chapters of suspension. What it actually turned out to be was one of the worst books I’ve ever subjected myself to.
First, let’s be clear.. this is not a “behind the scenes” account in any sense of the phrase. It is not insightful, not revealing, not even remotely engaging.
Instead, 75% of the book reads like a laundry list of match reports and scorecard summaries. When it does attempt to address the real elephant in the room, the betting scandal and CSK’s ban, it becomes nothing more than an embarrassing apologia for Srini mama and his son-in-law. The author bends over backwards to justify crimes with the most laughable arguments: from citing gambling in the Mahabharata to cherry-picking legal technicalities. It’s sycophancy of the highest order, bordering on propaganda.
And as if the spin wasn’t insulting enough, the sheer incompetence of the writing makes this an even bigger disaster. The factual errors are relentless. Page after page is littered with mistakes that a 5 minute Wikipedia skim would’ve avoided. Did no one even bother proofreading this? Or was the bar for accuracy and quality set so low because the only goal was to publish a puff piece for Srini mama?
A small sample of the blunders: apparently Sehwag played for Punjab in the early seasons, Boucher captained RCB in 2009, the IPL playoffs are modeled on the “European” football league (whatever that’s supposed to mean), the 2011 CLT20 final was between CSK and MI, McCullum had retired from internationals before IPL 2014 and CSK supposedly took the “prized” wicket of Arshdeep Singh in powerplay. This isn’t just sloppy, it’s insulting to any reader with half a memory of cricket.
As a lifelong CSK fan, even I found the author’s defense of Gurunath and Srini mama unbearable. Do I agree with the 2 year ban? Hell no! The players and team didn’t deserve that punishment for the crimes of the owners. A fairer outcome would’ve been to force the owners to sell (the way the UK govt forced Abramovich to give up Chelsea).
But this book doesn’t even attempt nuance, it simply tries to whitewash the scandal, and in doing so, makes a mockery of both CSK and cricket fans.
If you want to relive CSK’s history, watch a highlights reel on the IPL website, you’ll get more insight, more accuracy and far less torture.
Displaying 1 of 1 review