I wanted to talk to Dhoni sir but he had left the ground: Priyansh Arya

Punjab Kings' (PBKS) batting prodigy Priyansh Arya put the opposition bowlers on notice after smashing an exhilarating 39-ball century against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Mullanpur on Tuesday, April 8.

The left-handed batter from Delhi scored a match-winning 103 off 42 balls, hitting seven fours and nine sixes. The rest of the batters in the top six could only manage 23 runs. Punjab posted 219/6 before restricting CSK to 201/5.

Priyansh has been the talk of the town since that epic knock. The 24-year-old recently spoke about missing the opportunity to meet the legendary MS Dhoni after the match and how his presence behind the stumps put added pressure on him while batting.

"I feel very lucky to play against Dhoni sir as very few get that opportunity. There was pressure when he was behind the wickets and also there were legendary bowlers on the field like Ashwin. I wanted to talk to Dhoni sir but he had left the ground by that time," Priyansh said in an interview.

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Priyansh explained how PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer gave him confidence before the IPL 2025 campaign. Priyansh said that the former Australia skipper told him not to be worried about getting out on a duck against Rajasthan Royals in the previous match. Shreyas, on the other hand, assured the youngster that he would play all 14 games for the franchise in IPL 2025.

"Ricky sir gave me confidence by saying that anyone can be out first ball. He told me to hit it out of the park if you get the same ball. Ricky sir always keeps telling me to improve my pull shot. Have not worked with him on the technical front, we talk only about mindset," Arya said.

"In the nets ahead of the CSK game, Shreyas bhai just told me to go with my first thought after seeing the ball. Before the season too, he had told me that I would be playing all 14 games. Both Shreyas and Ricky sir never spoke anything negative after the first-ball dismissal. That is bound to boost your confidence," he added.