Noor Ahmad produced a match-winning spell for Chennai Super Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Having picked only one wicket in the previous four matches of IPL 2026, Noor Ahmad was going through a rough phase and his performance was not as good as he and his team expected. But against KKR, he picked up three wickets and gave away only 21 runs in his four overs, showing that he is slowly getting back to his best like last season.
In the post-match press conference, Sridharan Sriram, who is the assistant coach of CSK, said that the pitch helped Noor a bit, as there was some assistance for bowlers compared to earlier flat wickets.
Sriram also explained that MS Dhoni played a big role in Noor’s improvement. Dhoni had a long discussion with him during a practice session and helped him work on his leg break.
“I think it was good, the wicket helped today. There was a little bit of help for him. The other wickets were quite flat. Today, I think he was a little bit slower through the air; there was more side spin on the ball, and there was more drop. So that’s something he’s been working on. Even MS (Dhoni) had a long chat with him in one of the practise sessions, getting his leg break to go. So I think it was very helpful for him and the results were there to show,” Sriram said.
Even though MS Dhoni has not played a single match yet due to injury, his presence in the camp is still very important for young players, and he knows how to get the best out of them.
Noor was the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2025 with 24 wickets.
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Also, Sriram also said that Akeal Hosein played a big role in getting the best out of him. He told him what lengths to bowl, and after that, Noor was exceptional. Noor took the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Cameron Green in two consecutive balls and then later, in the next over, picked up the wicket of Rinku Singh.
“Akeal was the one who went and told Noor about the exact length, the in-between length that he needed to bowl. Once he found that in-between length, I think Noor was relatively unplayable. So I think credit to Akeal as well,” he added.
CSK may have found a new spin pair in their team, as Akeal Hosein bowled really well, conceding only 26 runs in his four overs and taking the wicket of Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
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