<p>Bengaluru: Among a clutch of breakout young stars, who have lit up this IPL, Priyansh Arya stands out. The 24-year-old Punjab Kings’ opener blazed his way into the spotlight when he struck a fiery century against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday, affirming his status as one of the talents to watch out for.</p>.<p>His 103 off 42 balls showed the wider cricketing world why Punjab Kings splurged Rs 3.8 crore on the uncapped southpaw who made national headlines last August when he smashed six sixes in an over in the inaugural Delhi Premier League.</p>.<p>All that brute force, youthful exuberance and raw aggression was visible as he single-handedly tore apart Super Kings at the new stadium in Mullanpur. The knock also characterised the new-found confidence youngsters in India wield the bat with. Despite being bowled out for a golden duck in his previous innings against Rajasthan Royals following an eight against Lucknow Super Giants, Arya showed no fear whatsoever as he hammered seven boundaries and nine sixes in a Player of the Match performance.</p>.IPL 2025: Jitesh buys into mentor Karthik's idea.<p>The cuts, the pulls and drives just kept flowing with skipper Shreyas Iyer earmarking him for special praise, saying he wants all his batters to employ the same methodology of playing without fear. While it’s easier said, the all-guns-blazing approach is fraught with risk as there will be days when the gamble doesn’t pay off — ask Sunrisers Hyderabad batters or even Arya himself who was outsmarted by Royals’ Jofra Archer.</p>.<p>Arya, given the licence to thrill without the fear of failure under the new Punjab management comprising coach Ricky Ponting and Iyer, says he’s comfortable with the gung-ho style and determined to make a mark this IPL.</p>.<p>“An attacking batsman always looks bad when he gets out. If you look at any attacking batters, they are the worst batsmen. They always want to attack. So I don’t think about getting out. I only think about what shot I’m going to play and will back it,” said Arya during a virtual media round table on Thursday.</p>.<p>“I spoke to Ricky sir after the match against Royals. He told me that if I get the same ball in the next match, I should hit it out of the ground. I became very confident after hearing that. My mindset is always to be positive. Shreyas told me to play on my instinct. That helped me a lot. The more you play on your instinct, the better you will be.”</p>.<p>While Arya is the talk of the town now, three years ago the budding youngster went through a low which he feels has made him a stronger cricketer now. He made his senior Delhi debut in the 2021-22 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy but with just 26 runs in two matches, he was dropped and only returned two seasons later. During that time, despite throwing his name in the IPL auction pool, he was ignored which hurt him.</p>.<p>That’s when Arya decided to put in the extra yards with childhood coach Sanjay Bhardwaj and figured to become a successful cricketer, consistency was extremely important. He made his comeback to the Delhi team and scored 222 runs in SMAT 2023-24 before upping the ante with 325 runs last year. Then the Player of the Tournament performance in DPL where he amassed 608 runs.</p>.<p>“I made debut for senior Delhi team in in 2021 but was out after two games. So I wanted to make consistent runs. Till last year too, I was not consistent. But I was able to gain that consistency in DPL and state team this season. Consistency is the key and that’s always in my mind.”</p>.<p>If Arya can be consistent this IPL then a world of opportunities would open up for him.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Among a clutch of breakout young stars, who have lit up this IPL, Priyansh Arya stands out. The 24-year-old Punjab Kings’ opener blazed his way into the spotlight when he struck a fiery century against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday, affirming his status as one of the talents to watch out for.</p>.<p>His 103 off 42 balls showed the wider cricketing world why Punjab Kings splurged Rs 3.8 crore on the uncapped southpaw who made national headlines last August when he smashed six sixes in an over in the inaugural Delhi Premier League.</p>.<p>All that brute force, youthful exuberance and raw aggression was visible as he single-handedly tore apart Super Kings at the new stadium in Mullanpur. The knock also characterised the new-found confidence youngsters in India wield the bat with. Despite being bowled out for a golden duck in his previous innings against Rajasthan Royals following an eight against Lucknow Super Giants, Arya showed no fear whatsoever as he hammered seven boundaries and nine sixes in a Player of the Match performance.</p>.IPL 2025: Jitesh buys into mentor Karthik's idea.<p>The cuts, the pulls and drives just kept flowing with skipper Shreyas Iyer earmarking him for special praise, saying he wants all his batters to employ the same methodology of playing without fear. While it’s easier said, the all-guns-blazing approach is fraught with risk as there will be days when the gamble doesn’t pay off — ask Sunrisers Hyderabad batters or even Arya himself who was outsmarted by Royals’ Jofra Archer.</p>.<p>Arya, given the licence to thrill without the fear of failure under the new Punjab management comprising coach Ricky Ponting and Iyer, says he’s comfortable with the gung-ho style and determined to make a mark this IPL.</p>.<p>“An attacking batsman always looks bad when he gets out. If you look at any attacking batters, they are the worst batsmen. They always want to attack. So I don’t think about getting out. I only think about what shot I’m going to play and will back it,” said Arya during a virtual media round table on Thursday.</p>.<p>“I spoke to Ricky sir after the match against Royals. He told me that if I get the same ball in the next match, I should hit it out of the ground. I became very confident after hearing that. My mindset is always to be positive. Shreyas told me to play on my instinct. That helped me a lot. The more you play on your instinct, the better you will be.”</p>.<p>While Arya is the talk of the town now, three years ago the budding youngster went through a low which he feels has made him a stronger cricketer now. He made his senior Delhi debut in the 2021-22 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy but with just 26 runs in two matches, he was dropped and only returned two seasons later. During that time, despite throwing his name in the IPL auction pool, he was ignored which hurt him.</p>.<p>That’s when Arya decided to put in the extra yards with childhood coach Sanjay Bhardwaj and figured to become a successful cricketer, consistency was extremely important. He made his comeback to the Delhi team and scored 222 runs in SMAT 2023-24 before upping the ante with 325 runs last year. Then the Player of the Tournament performance in DPL where he amassed 608 runs.</p>.<p>“I made debut for senior Delhi team in in 2021 but was out after two games. So I wanted to make consistent runs. Till last year too, I was not consistent. But I was able to gain that consistency in DPL and state team this season. Consistency is the key and that’s always in my mind.”</p>.<p>If Arya can be consistent this IPL then a world of opportunities would open up for him.</p>