CHENNAI: Noted lawyer, cricket enthusiast and former vice-president of TNCA PS Raman’s book ‘Leo — The Untold Story of CSK’ was launched in a city hotel on Sunday, with former India and CSK captain MS Dhoni attending the function along with CSK coaches Stephen Fleming and Mike Hussey.
Former India player and ex-Tamil Nadu captain CD Gopinath, who is oldest surviving Test cricketer in the country, unveiled the book and presented the first copy to music director Anirudh Ravichander.
Former Test cricketers K Srikkanth, Brijesh Patel, WV Raman, S Badrinath were present at the function.
Gopinath spoke how the game had evolved from the time the English introduced the game. He also wished CSK the best for the upcoming season and praised Dhoni for being a remarkable individual both on and off the field.
Raman’s book chronicles the journey of CSK, including the challenging period when the franchise was suspended for two years, offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes look and showcasing never-before-seen photos from CSK’s archives.
Raman had earlier peened his father VP Raman’s biography: ‘’The Man who would not be King’’ and thus writing a book on CSK was not a problem. He said that about five to six years back he had started preparing notes for the book and was happy to come out with the book on his favourite team and also spoke of his association with former BCCI president N Srinivasan, the brain behind the formation of CSK.
R Ashwin, who recently retired as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, was felicitated and presented with a memento at the function. shwin spoke of how his career took off while being with CSK and also recalled about how Dhoni as captain of CSK instilled confidence in him by asking him to bowl the first over to Chris Gayle in 2011 IPL final, where he dismissed the flamboyant West Indian.