Spinners to fore for and in Chennai

CSK' trio accounts for five wickets against MI, with Noor leading the way at Chepauk

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN @Chennai

CALL off the search. Bring the sniffer dogs back to base. Or, as the kids would say, nature has healed. After the spinners played second fiddle to the quicks in 2024, the MA Chidambaram Stadium, at least on the evidence of 40 overs on Sunday, will be kinder to the slower bowlers in 2025.

In 2024, the hosts' spinners, led by Ravindra Jadeja and Maheesh Theekshana, struggled at home. Their combined return of five wickets across seven games was one of the primary reasons for their absence from the playoffs. It took their spinners less than 20 overs to reach that mark, thanks primarily to Noor Ahmad, whose left-arm wrist-spin -- one of the rarest of skills in world cricket -- confounded the Mumbai Indians batters on a surface assisting Ahmad. While R Ashwin and Jadeja got it to hold a touch, Ahmad spun it both ways.