While Noor Ahmad was spinning a web around Mumbai Indians at Chepauk in IPL 2025, the mood in the dugouts of the two teams couldn’t have been more starkly different. Mumbai Indians would have been wondering if they should have fought harder for Noor Ahmad at the IPL 2025 mega auction in November.
Chennai Super Kings would have been happy that they did go all-in and got Noor Ahmad. And perhaps watching in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Titans would have asked themselves if they let a gem slip away from them.
Noor Ahmad’s spell
Ruturaj Gaikwad turned to his left-arm wrist-spinner after the powerplay was done, bringing him on in the eighth over. He was up against two accomplished batters in Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma, and a strong Mumbai Indians middle order.
The control he exerted, however, would have had any number of good batters tied up in knots. One ball spun so sharply, it beat even MS Dhoni behind the stumps. But soon after, MS Dhoni’s lightning-quick hands effected a sharp stumping when Noor Ahmad beat Suryakumar Yadav in the air and got one to spin away.
He was just getting started, as the wickets of Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, and Robin Minz fell in a heap. MI were setting themselves up for a late onslaught, but that could never materialise because Noor broke the back of their batting. His average speed was a quick 92kmph, but despite the speed, he still got lots of turn.
No wonder the batters found it difficult to play him. He ended with 4-0-18-4, and looked threatening every over. In a bowling attack that has giants like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Noor Ahmad showed he could well emerge as CSK’s strike weapon.
CSK’s audacious auction gamble
The bids were flying thick and fast between CSK and MI, but when CSK raised their paddle for ₹5 crore, Mumbai Indians tapped out. The bidding wasn’t over though, because Gujarat Titans had an RTM card, which they promptly used. That was when CSK went all in, raising the bid to a whopping ₹10 crore.
Gujarat Titans could have still got Noor, but they thought that bid was too high. And CSK therefore got their man. They did on the auction table what Noor Ahmad does in the middle. He is a wicket-taker who isn’t afraid to risk something to get a bigger reward. CSK risked a big dent in their purse because they knew that the potential reward would be worth it.
From idolising Rashid Khan to playing with MS Dhoni
Noor grew up idolising Rashid Khan, as lots of Afghanistan children must have done. Going from GT to CSK, though he’s no longer in the same team as one idol, he’s sharing space with an icon in Dhoni. And their partnership was off to the best possible start when Dhoni had barely a tenth of a second to react, but still whipped off the bails to send Suryakumar Yadav back.
“It feels special to play here in the IPL,” Noor Ahmad said later. “The stumping of Surya was special, that was electric stuff by Mahi bhai. It is great to have someone like him behind the stumps, it’s a big support for me.” With how difficult batters have found to pick Noor Ahmad, that stumping might have just been the start of a beautiful partnership.
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