Chennai Super Kings’ Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad finally repaid the belief shown in him by the franchise. The wrist-spinner produced a match-winning show, with figures of 3 for 21 in 4 overs against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2026 match on Tuesday. While the CSK camp was delighted to see Noor return to form, after a string of poor performances this campaign, behind this turnaround, there lie a chat and some words of encouragement from the franchise’s icon MS Dhoni.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, CSK bowling coach Sridharan Sriram revealed the changes Noor made to his bowling against KKR, a big credit for which goes to Dhoni who had a detailed chat with the spinner during a training session.
“It was good. The wicket helped today. There was a little bit of turn for him. The other wickets are quite flat, but today it was a little slower through the air. There was more side spin on the ball and more drop,” Super Kings’ bowling coach Sridharan Sriram said after the win against the Knight Riders.
“That is something he has been working on. Even MS had a long chat with him in one of the practice sessions, especially about getting his leg-break going. I think it was very helpful today, and the results were there to see,” he said.
In 5 IPL 2026 matches, Noor has 4 wickets, 3 of which came against Kolkata. According to Chennai’s bowling coach, a part of the blame for the early wicketless run goes to the nature of the wickets that are being used this season.
“Being able to get some deviation off the surface is very important, and that is what he has been working on. Everyone accepts that there will be days when wickets are flat, but still looking to be aggressive, putting revs on the ball and getting it to spin will help. That is how you induce mistakes,” Sriram explained.
“In his first over, he was either a bit short or slightly too full. Once he found that in-between length, he became very difficult to play. Credit to Akeal as well because he pointed that out during the strategic timeout.”
Sriram sees an excellent student of the game in Noor, which is why he expects the Afghanistan spinner to continue delivering in the IPL, in the games to come.
“One of his strengths is that he gets late movement. His release is very good and the ball moves late. When he gets it right consistently, it becomes difficult for batters.”
“He is a very good student of the game. He analyses batters, studies where to place his fielders and understands what speeds to bowl. He comes prepared.”