Prior to Tuesday’s IPL 2026 outing against Kolkata Knight Riders, Noor Ahmad had endured a tough few months. Since January, he had just one wicket to his name, which came in the previous home match against Delhi Capitals. But on Tuesday, he bounced back to form, picking up 3/21 in four overs in Chennai Super Kings’ 32-run win over Kolkata and walked away with the Player of the Match award for his spell.
On a pitch that assisted the spinners, Noor didn’t try anything extraordinary. And more importantly, didn’t overuse his googly and relied on the one that comes back into the right-hander. As he roared back to form, ’s bowling coach Sridharan Sriram credited MS Dhoni for having a crucial chat with Noor, where the former captain emphasised not to overuse the googly.
“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 in the post-match press conference.
On the eve of the match, when Noor had a long net session, head coach Stephen Fleming and Dhoni watched him from close range. While the New Zealander was stationed behind Noor, Dhoni kept a close tab from behind the nets. And towards the end of the session, the two had a long chat with the Afghanistan spinner, who had an outstanding 2025, where he took 24 wickets. However, coming into this season, Noor had been battling for form, which meant he didn’t even start in any of Afghanistan’s matches in the T20 World Cup.
In a combination where Noor is expected to play a critical role in the middle-overs for CSK, he had been guilty of erring in his line and lengths. Often operating at a quicker speed, he had been bowling with a flat trajectory and giving room for batsmen to swing in the arc. But on Tuesday, there was a significant change in his speed, and Sriram said Noor has to find ways to get deviations to be aggressive to stay effective rather than be defensive.
“I think to be able to get some deviation off the surface is very important. I think that is what he’s been working on. Everybody accepts there are going to be days when the wickets are going to be very flat. But still looking to be aggressive, putting revs on the ball and getting the ball to spin will definitely help him a lot. And that’s where you can induce mistakes. Because once you start to get defensive, then the batters are going to get on top of you,” he said.
