CHENNAI: Only a few days into Punjab Kings' pre-season camp, there was several interview requests for Priyansh Arya. When it was put to him that several scribes wanted to speak to him, the opener had given a one sentence response. "I will talk after I perform," he had said.
In a performance straight out of a fever dream on Tuesday night, Arya didn't just perform, he played the sort of an innings that will, in time, have its own wikipedia page. Remember Paul Valthaty's mayhem against the same opposition? That Yusuf Pathan ton from the dream factory when he clattered 100 off 37?
This 100 from Arya, off 39 balls, will belong in that same cultish genre, where an otherwise routine game will be remembered because of the knock.
Firstly, Arya may not be a household name but he's a well known face among the T20 circuit. In a Delhi Premier League game last year, he hit six sixes in an over. He continued that form into the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s where he top-scored for Delhi (325 runs at a strike-rate of 176.6).
It's why R Ashwin made a special mention of Arya in his YouTube channel before the IPL had begun. "... he's my No. 1 player," he had said. When Punjab got him at the auction for `3.8 cr (base price of `30 lakh), people did expect him to play a part in 2025 but Josh Inglis and the retained Prabhsimran Singh were seemingly the openers who would start.
Coach Ricky Ponting, never one to shy away from giving youngsters the chance to show what they are made of, took a hammer to that sentiment even before the IPL had begun. "He," the Australia had said in the lead up to the tournament, "is a very special potential opening batter for us."
He had kind of repaid that faith in fits and bursts over the first two weeks. Against an already beleaguered Chennai franchise, the 24-year-old married hedonism and talent with some luck along the way.
This version of Punjab is all about batting intent and attacking without worrying about the wickets lost column. Some teams prefer this because the thinking, then, is clear and uncluttered without the fear of consequences. At 3/54 after five overs, Arya may have been inclined to rein it in a touch on other sides. Not for Punjab. In the process, he ended up playing the cricket version of 'call the ambulance but not for me' meme.
It was an innings filled with audacious strokeplay, disrespecting two of the greatest spinners this country has known and throwing out conventional wisdom out of the window.
The apogee of his innings came soon after Matheesha Pathirana, an expert in bowling at the back end, came in for his first over. The Sri Lankan's radar was off but Arya was ruthless enough to take full advantage of the largesse. Off his second ball, he dispatched a low full toss outside off over point for six. The next, he pulled well in front of square for six. The hat-trick was completed when a bumper was swiped over square leg.
If that was dessert, the entree was reserved for R Ashwin either side of the powerplay. The off-spinner, one of the franchise's most expensive acquisitions at the auction, was welcomed with a boundary, a sweep. He closed out Ashwin's first over by pumping a short ball outside off over long off for six to signal a 19-ball 50.
With the pitch offering no turn, Arya was lining up the veteran. Ashwin recovered well to pick up a couple of wickets but the southpaw was unrelenting. Off his last over, a nothing ball on leg stump was promptly thrashed in front of square. He had kind of inversed one of cricket's great truisms. 'If the bowler is going to miss, I'm going to hit' or something on those lines.
The times when Arya missed, the fielders missed. In the end, the fielders grassed multiple offerings. Not a surprise when you consider they have now put down 12 chances in five matches.
After Arya's pyrotechnics, Shashank Singh and Marco Jansen lifted them to 219. Considering the visitors, coming into the game were 0-10 in chases over 180, the writing was already on the wall. And so it proved.
The match is further confirmation that Chennai need the kind of surgery Punjab had before this year. The end result? Punjab join four other teams on six points. Chennai, meanwhile, have lost a fourth game on the spin.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 219/6 in 20 ovs (Arya 103, Shashank 52 n.o, Jansen 34 n.o, Khaleel 2/45, Ashwin 2/48) bt Chennai Super Kings 201/5 in 20 ovs (Conway 69, Dhoni 27; Ferguson 2/40).
