New Delhi, Apr 10: Growing up in New Delhi’s Ashok Vihar, left-handed opener Priyansh Arya had told IANS before the start of IPL 2025 that watching Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 158 in the competition’s inaugural match as a young kid had fuelled his desire to perform well in the ten-team tournament.

Arya’s performance earlier this week evoked the same sense of wonder as McCullum’s remarkable innings from IPL 2008 when he smashed a 42-ball 103, laced with seven fours and nine sixes against Chennai Super Kings in Mullanpur, and give Punjab Kings a memorable home win.

His century, coming off just 39 balls, is now the joint fourth-fastest in IPL’s history. “The feeling has obviously been very great that I hit a hundred, as runs are made by a lot of people. But hitting a hundred, as per my view, is difficult. On hitting the hundred, I felt very proud of myself,” said a smiling Arya to IANS in a virtual round-table chat organised by the franchise on Thursday.

Life since hitting six sixes in the inaugural edition of the Delhi Premier League (DPL), where he also ended up as the tournament’s leading run-getter, has flipped big time for Arya, as he got worldwide recognition.

Calls for attending IPL trials soon made way for a contract worth Rs 3.8 crore. In the side’s pre-season camps, Arya impressed onlookers and was given the backing to open the batting in IPL 2025. Even after his stunning IPL century, Arya has kept a level head.

A big part of that, as per the left-handed opener, has come down to him seeing how calmness has brought consistent on-field performances from players in IPL. “The preparation is just the same for everyone. From whatever I have seen, the mindset is key, as controlling the mind is the most difficult thing for any human being. But the more you are able to keep yourself calm, the better it works in terms of performances,” he added.

Before that century against CSK, Arya came into the game on the back of being castled by Jofra Archer’s scorching pace on the first ball of PBKS’ chase, as they eventually fell short by 50 runs to Rajasthan Royals. He revealed continuous talking with head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer gave him positive vibes before stepping out to attack CSK bowlers.

“My mindset was positive, because when I got out on the first ball (against RR), I didn’t think of anything much. I thought that I will play with a positive attitude as much as possible. If I get the ball, I will hit it. Whenever I talk to Ricky sir, he is always positive. He said that there is no problem, it was the first ball and anyone can get out.”

“He told me that if I get the same ball in the next match (against CSK), I should hit it out of the ground, and I was very confident after hearing that. I was thinking that if I get the first ball, I will hit it, as per my instinct and not defend. Shreyas bhaiya told me to play on my instinct, as it would be better for me, and that helped me a lot.

“Plus, when I was going out to bat in the nets (before the game against CSK), he (Shreyas) asked me what was going on in my mind. I said a few things and he replied back by saying, ‘Keep a clear mind. Don’t think about anything and just back your game. The way you play your game, continue in that way’,” he elaborated.

Before DPL 2024, Arya had been a largely unknown player and hadn’t established himself in the Delhi team, despite making his senior debut in 2021, which came after his Delhi U19 team selection in 2019, thanks to former India player Amit Bhandari, who was the selector at that time.

Arya also disclosed that the current boldness in his batting has come gradually, as time and maturity taught him to be more consistent with his run-scoring in T20s. “With time and maturity, you have to make changes in yourself. You can’t keep playing like you used to. Moreover, all the mature players know everything about you.”

"When I went to the (IPL) trials before, and I didn’t get selected, I thought that if I didn’t make a run, I wouldn’t get selected, because I wasn’t as consistent as I thought I would be. So when I made runs in the DPL, everything became different.”

“My sir (Sanjay Bhardwaj) used to tell me that if you stay on the wicket as much as possible, you will get a chance to move forward. That’s what I used to think while playing, and has helped me,” he concluded.

(IANS)

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