Priyansh worked on cut and pull shots against pacers in IPL build-up, says his coach

Priyansh Arya's explosive IPL debut showcased his fearless approach against fast bowlers, earning him a maiden century.

Priyansh Arya waltzed from 80 to 102 in the space of four deliveries against Chennai Super Kings in Mullanpur on Tuesday. He did so by taming CSK’s fastest bowler Matheesha Pathirana, walloping the Sri Lankan slinger for three consecutive sixes before bringing up his maiden IPL century with a four between short third and backward point. In that blitz were two back-to-back pulls that sailed over the midwicket and square leg boundaries, showing scant regard for Pathirana’s pace and reputation as a death-overs specialist.

In the lead-up to his debut IPL season, having been picked for ₹3.8 crore by Punjab Kings, the 24-year-old from Delhi had given special attention to the challenge of conquering the fast bowlers. Belonging to the stable of Sanjay Bhardwaj, who has trained the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Nitish Rana and Joginder Sharma, Priyansh stationed himself at his coach’s residential academy in Bhopal before the marquee assignment to work on his shots against pace.

“Priyansh trained in Bhopal for 20-25 days. He practised a lot against fast bowlers, specifically on the cut and pull shots,” Bhardwaj told The Hindu. “In the IPL, unless you are a player capable of taking on the fast bowlers, you won’t get preference. The world’s best pacers are there and unless you master how to dominate them, you won’t be successful. He would play 200-300 pulls and 200-300 cuts every day. He faced side-armers and medium-pacers. The practice wickets were bouncy.”

Priyansh set the tone for the night by cutting Khaleel Ahmed over backward point for a six off the very first ball of the game. That he had been dismissed for a first-ball duck by Jofra Archer in the previous game had no bearing. Bhardwaj puts it down to Priyansh’s see-ball, hit-ball approach.

“His main strength is attacking and he does it on instinct. He does see and play rather than think and play. When you think and play, it leads to doubt or confusion,” the coach said.