Priyansh Arya has been one of the many positives from the high-flying Punjab Kings camp in the Indian Premier League 2025. The youngster smashed a 39-ball century against Chennai Super Kings to make headlines and break records.
After scoring a golden duck against Rajasthan Royals, where he was castled by Jofra Archer, Arya came out guns blazing to take down the CSK attack, consisting of the likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Noor Ahmad. The youngster from Delhi credited PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer for giving him the confidence to go all-out despite registering a duck in the match before.
“My mindset was positive. Because when I got out on the first ball, I didn’t think much. I thought that I will play with a positive attitude as much as possible,” Arya told reporters in a virtual interaction on Thursday. “If I get the ball, I will hit it. Whenever I talk to Ricky (Ponting) sir, he is always positive. He said that there is no problem. It’s a first ball. Anyone can get out. He told me that if I get the same ball in the next match, I should hit it out of the ground. I was very confident after hearing that. Shreyas told me not to worry. You will play all the 14 matches. The captain was backing me a lot. I felt very confident after hearing that.”
Arya became the talk of the town after smashing six sixes in an over for Delhi Superstarz in a Delhi Premier League match in 2024, before he was signed up by Punjab Kings for Rs 3.8 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
“Earlier, people only knew me in Delhi. After the six sixes, I got recognition from everywhere. Everyone congratulated me. So, a lot changed after that,” Arya said. “If I get out for zero or score 100 runs, it’s a part of the game. The more you play on your instinct, the better you will be.”
At 24, Arya took down some big names in the CSK attack, with MS Dhoni standing behind the stumps. For any youngster, sharing the field with a legend like Dhoni is an unforgettable moment, and it was no different for Arya.
“I am very lucky that I was able to play with Dhoni, there are other legends like Ashwin and Jadeja as well,” Arya said. “Obviously, very few people get a chance like this. I feel very lucky that I was able to play with them. Obviously, there was a lot of pressure. Dhoni sir was standing behind me. The bowlers were legends like Ashwin sir. I felt very good while playing. I wanted to talk to them but I couldn’t. I was busy with my interviews.”
Arya comes from the stable of coach Sanjay Bharadwaj in Delhi. Bharadwaj has helped players like Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Joginder Sharma, Nitish Rana, and Unmukt Chand, among others. For a young Arya, the instruction from Bharadwaj was to observe Gambhir at the nets as much as possible. The southpaw used to sit behind the nets when Gambhir practised, as he recalls a fond memory of the now India head coach giving him his entire kit bag.
“Bachpan mein itna dimaag nahi hota (you don’t have brains as a kid). I was told that I should watch Gautam sir’s batting and learn from him. I used to watch how he played in the nets. He used to play like in a match,” Arya recalled. “There wasn’t a single rash shot when he batted. I learned a lot from him. The first time I spoke to him was when I went to the Ranji Trophy camp for the first time. I was batting in the nets when he called me and gave me his new kit. He gave me the entire kit bag the next day.”
For Punjab Kings, who have won three and lost one in four matches so far in IPL 2025, Iyer’s captaincy has been a major highlight. After leading Kolkata Knight Riders to the title last season, Iyer has continued from where he left off, albeit in a different jersey. For Arya, Iyer’s vote of confidence that he will be playing all 14 matches has made a big difference.