Noor Ahmad – Afghanistan Player Becomes CSK’s Most Expensive Buy For INR 10 Crore!

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) acquired Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad for INR 10 crore as their most expensive purchase on Day 1 of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The five-time champions entered the auction with INR 55 crore and were left with the remaining purse of INR 50 Lakhs after Day 2 with 20 new additions and 5 retentions (25 players in the squad).

The 19-year-old wrist spinner played for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the previous two seasons and grabbed 24 wickets in 23 matches at an average of 27.46 and an economy of 8.04. While GT attempted to retain Noor through a Right to Match (RTM) card, CSK elevated the bid to invite the rising talent into their squad for forthcoming seasons. One of the main reasons to secure the young spin bowler’s services at an expensive bid could be his ability to make effective contributions, particularly on home pitches at Chepauk Stadium.

This is the first time CSK has selected a player from the Afghanistan cricket team. Also, Noor Ahmad represented the Texas Super Kings in the second season of the Major League Cricket (MLC) earlier this year.

Since Noor’s international debut in 2022, he has grabbed a spotlight in T20 cricket despite his limited opportunities in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).

Most importantly, CSK strategically bid with a cautious approach on quality players and opted out preferring the most expensive ones that are highly unaffordable such as Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore), Shreyas Iyer (INR 26.75 crore) and KL Rahul (INR 14 crore) 

Let’s find out why CSK offered a hefty price tag of INR 10 crore to Noor Ahmad in the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Franchises Aggressive Bidding to Acquire Noor Ahmad in IPL 2025 Mega Auction

Compared to the previous season’s value of INR 30 Lakhs, Noor Ahmad was shortlisted for the mega auction with a base price of INR 2 crore. Here are brief highlights on how franchises entered into a dynamic bidding war that increased the Afghanistan spinner’s value from INR 2 crore to INR 10 crore turning out to become CSK’s most expensive signing:

GT Unable to Retain Noor Ahmad Using RTM Card

During the IPL 2025 mega auction, GT had the option to use an RTM card on a capped international player and there were chances to retain Noor Ahmad through this strategy when CSK quoted a maximum bid of INR 5 crore. Although Gujarat tried to retain the Afghan spinner through RTM, Chennai outbid the 2022 IPL champions by increasing the bid to INR 10 crore. As a result, the price was too high to afford for a franchise like GT that entered Day 2 of the mega auction with a remaining purse of INR 17.50 crore.

Reasons why CSK Spent INR 10 Crore on Noor Ahmad

These are the main reasons why CSK spent a whopping sum of INR 10 crore on Noor Ahmad which sounds logical and reasonable:

1. Home Pitch Conditions in Chepauk:

The pitch conditions in MA Chidambaram Stadium (also known as Chepauk Stadium) have favored spinners to produce variations and CSK might play half of the matches at home in the next season. In such scenarios, Noor Ahmad’s wrist spin bowling can pose a threat to in-form batters.

His stats in ODIs and T20Is prove that he not only took wickets but also restricted the opponent team’s run flow:

2. Valuable Performances for Texas Super Kings in MLC 2024:

It is a proven fact that wrist spinners have often made match-winning contributions to their team in T20Is and Noor Ahmad’s performance in MLC 2024 is one such example. Representing Texas Super Kings, he grabbed 9 wickets in 4 innings at an average of 13.44 and strike rate of 10.67.

3. Strengthen Spin Bowling Unit with Ashwin:

In the past few seasons, CSK’s spin bowling attack has been weak, and the franchise has mainly focussed on acquiring quality spinners such as Noor Ahmad and Ravichandran Ashwin. The duo combination of Ahmad and Ashwin can dominate against the power-hitting batters at Chepauk and add fuel to the bowling lineup.

Final Verdict:

CSK made use of their remaining purse of INR 55 crore during the auction and refrained from bidding on other high-profile who bagged more than INR 10 crore including the names of:

• Mohammed Siraj
• Ishan Kishan
• Mohammed Shami
• Venkatesh Iyer
• Arshdeep Singh
• Yuzvendra Chahal

Overall, CSK’s unique strategy focuses on bolstering the squad with young talents as well as valuing money without chasing along with other franchises to acquire iconic cricketers for hefty prices.