Who is Priyansh Arya, sold for INR 3.8 crore to Punjab Kings (PBKS) at IPL 2025 Auction. All you need to know about Priyansh Arya.
Until the evening of Monday, November 25, 2024, Priyansh Arya was likely an unknown figure in the cricketing world. However, that is about to change. Over the years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has provided a platform for emerging talents, offering them the opportunity to showcase their skills and make a mark in the cricketing world.
The highlight of every season’s auction has been the launch of multiple young careers in the country. The recent event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was no exception. Arya caught the attention of the IPL franchises, hitting six sixes in an over during the recent Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2024. But he is much more than just one special feat.
The left-handed opener finished the inaugural season of the tournament as the leading run-getter with 608 runs in 10 games. His average of 67.56 and a strike rate of around 200, with two centuries and four fifties are the early signs of his progress.
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Priyansh Arya and his love affair with sixes in the ‘V’
Priyansh began the competition against Old Delhi 6 with 57 runs in 30 deliveries, thanks to four sixes. In the very next game, the youngster clubbed 82 runs in 51 balls, shouldering seven maximums. The madness continued. The 23-year-old followed it up with another 53-run knock against East Delhi 6 before celebrating 107 runs in 55 balls.
All of these knocks were before he made the headlines. South Delhi Superstarz posted 308/5 in their allotted 20 overs against the North Delhi Strikers. Arya contributed with 120 off just 50 deliveries. The left-hander drilled left-arm spinner Manan Bharadwaj for six sixes in an over. All of those shots were in the ‘V’ down the ground.
It wasn’t the first appearance of the batter in the shortest format. During the previous 2023/24 season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), the sensational power hitter was the highest run-getter for Delhi. Arya smashed 222 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 166.92 with two half-centuries.
On the eve of the mega auction, the batter added more flavour to his T20 career with a century in the ongoing SMAT 2024. He smashed 102 runs in 43 balls with the help of five boundaries and 10 sixes against Uttar Pradesh. It wasn’t a mediocre UP bowling line-up in the presence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shivam Mavi, and Piyush Chawla.
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The bidding war for Arya at the mega-auctions
The all-rounder started his opening bid on the second day’s auction at INR 30 lakhs. Delhi Capitals (DC) were quick to open the bid before Mumbai Indians (MI) raised the paddle. Punjab Kings (PBKS) joined them in the race before Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) replaced DC at INR 90L.
Both Punjab and Bengaluru extended the price to over INR 3 crore, raising more attention in the room. In the end, PBKS earned the chance to sign him for the final price of INR 3.80 crore.
The Gautam Gambhir connection
The parents of Arya are teachers in a government school in Delhi. And their son trains under Sanjay Bhardwaj, the former coach of Gautam Gambhir. The veteran has also shaped the careers of several Delhi players in the form of Amit Mishra, Nitish Rana, and Unmukt Chand.
Sanjay was not surprised by the rise of the youngster or at the amount he collected in the auction. He expressed his confidence in the left-hander grabbing more than INR 3 crore.
“I had hopes of Priyansh going for at least INR 3 crore. I had told his father already that your son would go for at least INR 2 crore and 70 lakh; I had the intuition. He recently scored a century in Syed Mushtaq. The running performance always increases your bid,” Bharadwaj said to Hindustan Times.
Priyansh, known for his power-hitting, went unnoticed in the previous auction. But he worked on his skills in the last 12 months. Bharadwaj claimed how the unique playing style of the batter has dominated his own coaching methods.
“He has natural talent; you have to groom that. You can’t be doing copybook coaching. You just can groom the natural style; if you go by the books, then you will face a huge problem. The coach just needs to be there for the player. Every player has their own way of playing,” Sanjay addressed this in the same interaction with HT.
During the DPL 2024, Arya informed ESPNcricinfo about how he used to follow the batting of Gambhir when he was young. Later, he started talking to him when he grew up.
“Apart from this, Ayush Badoni is my good friend. He is also our captain in the Delhi Premier League, and he has IPL experience. So I interact with him a lot on and off the pitch, and his experience is very useful to me,” Priyansh told ESPNcricinfo.
More than the money, it is about the stage the youngster will get in PBKS. He will rub shoulders with their head coach, Ricky Ponting, and a potential leader, Shreyas Iyer. Being a power hitter, Arya will have the luxury of taking advice from Glenn Maxwell. In the nets, he will be up against the spin-web of Yuzvendra Chahal, the swing of Arshdeep Singh, and the lethal pace of Lockie Ferguson. It’s a matter of time before he polishes his skills further in the future.
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