The 21-year-old Noor Ahmad had been struggling for a while. Many felt that the mystery in his bowling has vanished after three consecutive wicketless outings. The Afghan spinner got some momentum against Delhi Capitals (DC) and then delivered a match-winning performance against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at home. The key behind the change? It's the usual suspect MS Dhoni's off-the-field advice and teammate Akeal Hosein's length correction on the field. After CSK's 32-run win, CSK spin-bowling coach Sridharan Sriram explained what happened behind the scenes.
“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 after the match.
“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.”
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Hosein helps Noor find the right length
During the strategic timeout, Hosein had asked Noor to not bowl too full or too short and pitch it on an in-between length which troubled the batters.
“Being able to get some deviation off the surface is very important, and that is what he has been working on. 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. That is how you induce mistakes,” Sriram said.
“In his first over, he was either a bit short or slightly too full. Once he found that in-between length, he became very difficult to play. Credit to Akeal as well because he pointed that out during the strategic timeout,” he further revealed.
Noor achieves milestone with ‘Player of the match’ spell
Noor claimed the wickets of skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Cameron Green off consecutive deliveries. Then, he frustrated Rinku Singh with dot balls and forced him to play a lofted shot, straight to long-on fielder Shivam Dube. He bowled his full quota of four overs and claimed three wickets. He also completed 50 IPL wickets.