Chennai Super Kings’ assistant bowling coach Sridharan Sriram has revealed that MS Dhoni played an important role in Noor Ahmad’s success during a recent net session, urging the young spinner to trust his leg-breaks more. That advice seemed to pay off in a big way as Noor produced a match-defining spell against the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2026.
Noor was at his sharpest on a surface that offered just enough help for spin, returning impressive figures of 3/21 in four overs. He ripped through the KKR middle order and played a major role in CSK’s comfortable win. The Afghanistan spinner dismissed Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh and Cameron Green as Kolkata collapsed from 79/2 to 90/6, losing control of the chase in a matter of overs. Speaking after the match, Sriram praised both the conditions and Noor’s willingness to keep improving.
“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,” Sriram said. He also credited Dhoni for guiding the youngster in the nets.
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“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 added.
Chasing 193, KKR were in the contest at 79/3 in the 10th over, but Noor Ahmad shut the door quickly. He removed Rahane and Green in consecutive deliveries in the 11th over, leaving KKR reeling at 85/5 and ending any hope of a recovery. Sriram later explained that Noor’s focus on generating more deviation and revs had been a key part of his growth.
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“Being able to get some deviation off the surface is very important and that is what he has been working on,” he said. “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.”
