Mahendra Singh Dhoni is set to record his statement after the Madras high court ordered a trial in a Rs 100 crore defamation case filed by the former India captain against two prominent media channels and a journalist for allegedly making him party in the 2013 IPL betting scandal.
Justice C V Karthikeyan has appointed an advocate commissioner who will record the evidence on Dhoni's behalf. The Chennai Super Kings captain will not appear in person for the examination as his presence could lead to chaos on account of him being a celebrity.
The 44-year-old cricket legend has allege that in 2014, during a television debate on the IPL betting scandal, defamatory remarks were made against him and he consequently filed a case seeking damages of Rs 100 crore from the defendants.
Dhoni had filed the defamation suit in 2014 against Zee Media Corporation, Sudhir Chaudhary- Editor & Business Head of Zee News, IPS Officer G Sampath Kumar, and News Nation Network Pvt Ltd.
According to The Hindu newspaper, Senior Counsel P R Raman submitted an affidavit from Dhoni seeking the start of the trial which has now been pending for a decade.
'The above request is made with the intent to avoid any undue delay (in disposal of the suit pending in the High Court for over a decade) and to support the fair, just, and speedy adjudication of the suit, the affidavit read.
'I state that I shall extend my full co-operation with the Advocate Commissioner and comply with all directions issued by this honourable court regarding the trial and the recording of evidence.'
Dhoni has previously addressed the spot-fixing scandal in 2019, stating: '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,' Dhoni said on What Did We Do Wrong? broadcast on Hotstar in 2019.
'We did deserve the punishment but the only thing is the quantum of the punishment. Finally we got to know that CSK will be banned for two years. There was a mixed feeling that time. Because you take a lot of things personally and, as a captain, question what did the team do wrong.
'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?'
'My name also came up in talks of fixing. They started showcasing in the media or social media as if the team was involved, I was involved. Is it possible? Yes, it is possible; anyone can do spot-fixing. Umpires can do that; batsmen can, bowlers can... but match-fixing needs the involvement of the majority of the players.'
The 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal saw the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals suspended from the IPL for two years in July 2015, for betting activities by their key officials, Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra.
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