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Last Updated:March 25, 2025, 20:53 IST
Priyansh Arya took the internet by storm with his brutal-yet-eyecatching hitting on his IPL debut for Punjab Kings (PBKS) against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Opening the batting, the left-hander hit 47 off 23 balls with seven fours and two sixes at a strike-rate of 204.35.
He rode his luck a bit as leg-spinner Rashid Khan dropped him in the field early in his innings and a couple of his edges went in vacant spaces. But right from his first-ball boundary against Mohammed Siraj on the second ball of the innings, whenever he timed the ball, it was a thing of beauty. His best highlights included a square drive against Arshad Khan that went for a six and an on-drive against Kagiso Rabada for a boundary.
Khan came into the attack immediately after the powerplay to get him out but the 24-year-old had done his job for the team.
For those who have followed Priyansh from his early years, such a firecracker introduction to the IPL was a long time coming. He had been putting his name for the league for some time now, but a run of consistent performances in the past year helped him earn the Rs. 3.8 crore contract at the 2025 mega auction.
Priyansh started his cricket for the fun of it in the lanes of Ashok Vihar in New Delhi. He hails from a family of teachers but once his father saw his interest in the sport, Priyansh enrolled in coach Sanjay Bharadwaj’s academy in Bharat Nagar.
Bharadwaj worked on his overall technique and whenever the chance came up, would ask him to stand behind another one of his mentees, Gautam Gambhir, in the nets and learn. Priyansh already idolized him for his spin game and when one day Gambhir gifted him a full kit, the fandom grew further.
Soon, Priyansh was racking numbers from age-group cricket and earned a debut for the Delhi state team in T20s in 2021. By 2023, he had started to gather attention from all the important people in the sport. In that year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), he hit back-to-back fifties against the spin-heavy Tamil Nadu and pace-specialist Karnataka.
He went on to top the run charts for Delhi and did that again in SMAT 2024 with 325 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 176.63. Though shorter and slighter in stature, there are obvious similarities to Chris Gayle in how he bats.
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The final nail that must have settled IPL stakeholders’ interest in him was his performances in the Delhi Premier League (DPL). He was the highest-scorer in the inaugural edition with 608 runs, including two centuries. In one match, he put up a staggering 286-run partnership with his best friend Ayush Badoni (who plays for Lucknow Super Giants) as their team, South Delhi Superstarz crossed 300 in the T20 innings.
Though excelling in T20s for now, Priyansh wants to be an all-format player for India.
News cricket Who Is Priyansh Arya, All You Need To Know About PBKS Opener Who Idolises Gautam Gambhir
