Delhi Premier League star Priyansh Arya ready to light up the IPL
Had fate played out else, Priyansh Arya could have opened with Yashasvi Jaiswal at the 2020 Under- 19 World Cup, but BCCI rules supposed him ineligible indeed though he met the age criteria. While Jaiswal came a rout star with Rajasthan Royals, Arya plodded to navigate Delhi’s age- group pathways.
After five times and a strong debut for Delhi’s elderly platoon, the 24- time-old Arya, known for hitting big sixes, showcased his power against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Piyush Chawla on the opening day of the 2024- 25 Syed Mushtaq Ali jewel, just before the IPL mega transaction.
Arya scored 102 off 43 balls, sparking a bidding war that crowned with Punjab lords subscribing him for INR 3.8 crore. A debut in IPL 2025 may be imminent, if head trainer Ricky Ponting’s words are anything to go by.
The day I got my Punjab lords jersey, I had goosebumps,” Arya tells ESPNcricinfo.” It was a surreal feeling to wear it. Being part of an IPL platoon and hail someone like Ricky sir talk to me is an amazing feeling. Every time he speaks, I am standing there and looking at him, trying to hang on to every word. It feels amazing.”
In August 2024, Arya smashed six sixes in an over in a Delhi Premier League game. He put on 286, the loftiest stage for any gate in a T20 match, with Ayush Badoni en route to an unbeaten 50- ball 120. Their platoon, South Delhi Superstarz, smashed 308.
” The DPL earned me trials with a lot of brigades,” Arya says.” But it’s nowhere near the kind of recognition the transaction gave me. Indeed old familiarity started calling me. That is when it struck me that I’d done commodity.”
Arya comes from a middle- class family of preceptors. At” 9 or 10″, Arya was enrolled at Sanjay Bhardwaj’s academe, where the dream to come a” proper cricketer” grew bigger.
” I’d spent hours watching the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Nitish Rana and Unmukt Chand train,” he says.” Sir used to make us observe them from behind the net. For us it was a exhilaration to watch all of them play from over near.”
Arya’s early pledge helped him break into the Delhi Under- 14s platoon, but his youthful career hit a rough patch when he was 17, after he first played for India Under- 19s.
” When a chooser( Amit Bhandari, the former India attachment) asked me if I was in the Under- 16s, I told him I was not eligible and was fighting for Under- 19s. I’d scored runs in Under- 19 trial games, so I was confident.
” At the time, I was not apprehensive of a rule where if you did not suffer an age test at the Under- 16s, also you’ll only be eligible to play Under- 19 for two times. By the time I was 17, I was done playing Under- 19s.”
That decision ruled Arya out of the Under- 19 World Cup. It took him three further times to break into the Delhi elderly platoon, and it was not until 2024- 25 that his career took off.
Arya was Delhi’s loftiest run- arranger in the SMAT, hitting 325 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 176.63, with the 102 against UP bringing him attention from scouts and trainers previous to the transaction.
” I’d stuffed a small pillow in my mouth when my name was called out,” Arya says.” I felt a lot of pressure, but when flings started flying, I kept getting calls and dispatches. My phone hung. After the transaction, I used Jonty Sidhu’s( Delhi teammate) phone to ring my parents. I had goosebumps.”
What does Arya intend to do with his IPL earnings?
No indication,” says Arya, now a BA graduate from Delhi University.” It’s for mama and pater
. They supported me beforehand on, indeed when studies were not my thing. They are really happy I am playing in the IPL. They did not know anything about sports, all their musketeers are preceptors too, but they did not stop me from pursuing my interest. It’s all for them.”
Over the once many times, Arya has watched the IPL from snooker parlours and in badminton courts with musketeers. This time, he’ll have an occasion to be at the centre of it each- with lords, hoping to” face Jasprit Bumrah” and” hit sixes against my friend Ayush Badoni.”
” Hai kuch baat, aapas mein( there’s some badinage between us),” he laughs.” When pressure is on both of us, let’s see who comes out on top.”
Priyansh Arya,Delhi,Punjab Kings,Indian Premier League,Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy,
Copyright hubnews1 Recorder, 2025
