“Will things ever be the same again? It’s the final countdown…”
“Those were the best days of my life…”
Just before play began, the atmosphere at Chepauk on the first night of the new season abruptly took on a nostalgic tone. The PA system broke the pregame buzz with Bryan Adams’ Summer of 69 and Europe’s Final Countdown as huge new tifos were unfurled in the stands. Only a few minutes prior, Anirudh Ravichander, who hails from Chennai, had filled the house with all of his most recent hits during his exuberant live performance.
The rest of the evening would follow this pattern of contemporary pomp and vintage songs as 20-year-old Noor Ahmad brought back a traditional CSK script in the defeat of the Mumbai Indians.
It’s important to fast recall IPL 2019 in order to comprehend the significance of CSK’s first home game of the season, which was a mostly routine win. Imran Tahir, a 40-year-old wrist spinner who finished the season with 26 wickets and a Purple Cap, was a member of the Chennai Super Kings. Perhaps sensing that his time hadn’t yet come, despite the IPL’s predilection for the remarkable, 14-year-old Noor quietly put his hat in the IPL auction ring for the first time that same year.
That year, CSK advanced to the final but fell to the Mumbai Indians by just one run. The pandemic then struck, preventing them from visiting Chepauk for three arduous years. By the time they returned in 2023, a lot had changed: Noor had made it into the IPL, Tahir was no longer with them, and Chennai games weren’t quite following the old scripts.
Just three fewer than the Tahir-driven peak of 2019, CSK still took 17 wickets through spin in the middle overs in 2023. However, when CSK’s spinners took just five wickets in seven home games last year, those returns drastically declined. In the end, it was the first season that CSK had ever played at Chepauk and had missed the playoffs.
Assistant coach Michael Hussey was not happy with the spin issue in particular. He made the following revealing remark following the season’s last home game: “Obviously the BCCI want to see good cricket and want to see high scores.” They want to witness cricket that is visually appealing and aggressive. Using spin as the foundation of our game and batting against it has helped us achieve great success in the past. I suppose that’s something the management would likely give careful consideration to before the next sale.”
In just the first game of the 2025 season, CSK’s spinners equaled their whole 2024 total, making a message that was maybe as forceful as Hussey’s from the previous year. Newcomer Noor was in the lead, taking four of those wickets while allowing just 18 runs and no boundaries off the bat. There was a hint of irony in the fact that this performance took place against the Mumbai Indians. At the recent mega auction, they were the same franchise that CSK defeated in a bidding war to win Noor’s services.
CSK had to deal with the Gujarat Titans’ Right to Match option after the gavel fell at INR 5 crore. One of the auction’s most unforgettable pictures was when Stephen Fleming raised all ten fingers in the direction of the auctioneer, indicating that CSK was willing to quadruple Noor’s valuation to INR 10 crore. It was a daring declaration of intent: after keeping Ravindra Jadeja and spending a further INR 9.75 crore to acquire R. Ashwin, CSK was prepared to spend over one-fifth of their allocated funds for a third spinner, in addition to pushing Noor beyond GT’s barrier.
Maybe CSK just wanted to cover all the spin bases since they were sure that their pitches would turn out the way they wanted them to. When precise, defensive spin bowling is required in the middle overs, Jadeja is available. Ashwin has the ability to create a choice in the PowerPlay and turn the ball both ways. By using both bat edges and jumping over the pitch with his quick wrist spin, Noor provided a differentiator. Sunday was merely confirmation. Noor proved unhittable during the middle phase as the MI innings collapsed, despite the pitch’s slow play and turn, which should become more spin-friendly as the summer goes on.
When Noor tore a huge legbreak past Tilak Varma’s heave, he not only took advantage of the surface but also forced himself upon it, defeating even MS Dhoni by a significant margin. He hit Suryakumar Yadav with a delivery that went the other way two balls later, and he was quickly stumped. Tilak got trapped on the crease with a googly after being battered on the flight and off the field. He bowled Naman Dhir round his legs with this variation, earning him a third wicket. MI’s batters kept finding that they couldn’t pick Noor from the hand, which was the problem. When combined with his mid-90s (kph) speed, he became a threat to MI and a warning to potential rivals.
Noor’s greatest IPL players in a powerful spin show felt like a delicate return to order for a team that has centered so much of its identity around home dominance. Despite being a new act in the yellow, Noor was playing all the old favorites, and the song seemed perfect for a squad that was keen to relive that rhythm.
