In his first match for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Afghan mystery spinner Noor Ahmad made an immediate impact, finishing with figures of 4-0-18-4 against Mumbai Indians (MI). He removed Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, and Naman Dhir — wiping out MI’s middle order and setting up a dominant first innings bowling display for CSK.
His performance comes after a competitive bidding battle at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, where CSK managed to secure him for ₹10 crore, fending off interest from both Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans.
Noor Ahmad’s debut spell for CSK was a masterclass in deception and control. Operating at brisk pace, he bowled with relentless accuracy and used the wrong’un as his primary weapon. Mumbai Indians’ batters struggled to read him off the hand, and Noor capitalized fully. Tilak Varma was stuck on the crease and beaten by sharp turn from a wrong’un that snuck back in to trap him LBW. Earlier in the same over, Noor had already beaten Tilak on the outside edge, but Dhoni had set up for the straighter one, showing just how difficult Noor was to read even from behind the stumps.
Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal highlighted that even the most experienced T20 batters weren’t immune. He wasn’t looking to charge Noor but was still completely undone by the drift and dip. Expecting a leg-break, he stayed rooted in the crease and was stumped by Dhoni, who anticipated the turn perfectly.
The subtle variations in Noor’s pace and trajectory created uncertainty, and MI’s middle order crumbled under the pressure. His final figures — 4 overs, 18 runs, 4 wickets — are now the best by a CSK spinner against Mumbai Indians, and a clear sign that CSK’s ₹10 crore investment has already started to pay off.
CSK were so keen on amping up their spin resources with the best in the world and went after Ravichandran Ashwin and Noor Ahmad to complement Ravindra Jadeja. They were so keen on Noor that they doubled the winning bid after Gujarat Titans used the RTM to confirm that the Afghanistan spinner would remain with them.
CSK walked into the auction with a purse of ₹55 crore, having already retained several key players. They opted not to pursue marquee names like Rishabh Pant (₹27 crore to LSG), Shreyas Iyer (₹26.75 crore to PBKS), and KL Rahul (₹14 crore to DC), focusing instead on tactical, value-driven picks like Noor. Two of those picks showed themselves up in the opening fixture vs MI – Khaleel Ahmed, whose powerplay burst put Mumbai onto the backfoot and Noor, whose spell destroyed the middle-order.
Noor Ahmad fits their long-standing spin-first approach, especially for matches at Chepauk. Alongside Jadeja and Ashwin, he now forms a strong spin core for the 2025 season. His debut spell has already justified CSK’s aggressive bidding.
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