Priyansh Arya: Uncapped Arya gave a masterclass in see ball and hit ball Playing his fourth IPL game, he faced an attack comprising 732 international caps and demolished it

The fast bowler, who is playing his fourth IPL match, has performed brilliantly by playing 732 international matches and is one of the best.

Virender Sehwag was a cricketer with many extraordinary talents, but what made him so different from other players of his era was his ability to transform the complex art of batting into a pursuit of crystal-clear simplicity. His philosophy can be summed up in two maxims: "Forget the last ball", and "See the ball, hit the ball". This philosophy existed even when no one needed to express it in words. He did not need to repeat the words to himself when the bowler ran in. They were already part of his being.

When Delhi's other opener Priyansh Arya took strike for the first time on Tuesday night, he could have been forgiven if his previous delivery was on his mind. That ball was Jofra Archer's jaffa that went from leg to top of off at 144.6 kmph and bowled him for a golden duck.

From all available evidence, there was no mention of that delivery on Arya's mind when he faced his first delivery on Tuesday. From all available evidence, there was only some verbal or non-verbal version of "ball dekho, ball maaro" on his mind. Khaleel Ahmed's length was fine, and he also got a little swing from the left-hander, but he gave Arya width, and he was not going to stand and ignore the width. He took a small step forward, but not across, so that he could fully extend his arms and send the ball over backward point for six.

Minimal footwork, steady head, steady base, and a brilliantly unobstructed swing of the bat. Flashback in the mirror.

The flip side of his lack of footwork began to make itself felt in the next four balls that Aarya faced. He was almost caught-and-bowled off a leading edge, and another edge lobbed slightly away to short third.

However, all of this was out of Aarya's mind when he faced the fifth legitimate ball of Khaleel's over. Here again was width, and another chance to free his arms. The first six had gone behind square; this one went right in front, more punch than carve.

This IPL 2025 game between Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings kept giving Aarya the chance to worry about the previous ball, or comparatively recent balls. Each time, he paid no mind, and instead chose to simply look at the ball in front of him and hit it.

PBKS had lost their first wicket when he took strike first in the second over. The ball from Mukesh Choudhary was short and slightly missed on the leg side, and Aarya, who was standing more or less stationary but got enough time to shift his weight from the front foot to the back, hooked it for a six.

When he faced the fourth over, PBKS had lost their second wicket, that of their captain Shreyas Iyer. This did not deter Arya in any way - it did not even stop him from driving at a catchable height through the off-side ring, as he hit Choudhary for three consecutive boundaries.

As PBKS kept losing wickets, Arya kept playing his shots, and he did not stop even after coming close to getting dismissed. Another aerial square drive touched the fingers of the diving point fielder, when PBKS' score read 49 for 2. They were cruising at 114 for 5, when a misplaced loft ended up in the hands of long-off, only for the fielder to step on the boundary cushion.

Aarya's instincts were carrying PBKS forward for over 10 or so, even when they were losing so many wickets. At the time of that failed chance at long-off, Arya had scored more than 64% of PBKS' runs. By the time he was dismissed for 103 off 42 balls, he had raised this percentage to almost 67.

Aarya's century, which came off 39 balls, was the joint fourth-fastest century in IPL history, and the fastest by an uncapped batsman. If these facts don't make his innings special, add the fact that the other players in PBKS' top six scored 0, 9, 4, 9 and 1.

Interviewed during the innings break, Arya suggested that the conditions in Mullanpur demanded that he keep batting in the same manner despite his teammates coming and going. PBKS had just set CSK a target of 220, and when asked about the conditions and his team's chances, this is what he said: "The ball is coming on nicely. It's not turning much. We have to bowl in good areas and take as many wickets as possible in the powerplay."

Arya didn't think PBKS were safe despite their total, and they eventually won by just 18 runs.

This, increasingly, is the way of T20 - or certainly the way of the IPL. Teams batting first are starting to shy away from taking early wickets - here PBKS lost five wickets in the first eight overs - thereby curtailing their ambitions. Better to lose big in search of a potential win, rather than squander a chance to win and lose by a respectable margin.

Adopting this mindset removes doubts from the minds of players like Arya, and gives them the licence to be themselves, no matter what. After the match, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer said he had given this message to Arya after his first-ball against Archer.

"When I spoke to him in the last game, he was a bit timid in terms of his decision-making when facing Jofra," Iyer said. "Today when he came out to bat he said, 'I am just following my instincts. I saw the ball pitched in my area and I was just playing freely.' And that's the mindset I want every player playing in the team to have. On an odd day, you don't play the way you want to, but today he kept playing, he was fearless, and it was basically one of the best innings I have seen in the IPL so far."

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