Young Punjab Kings batter Priyansh Arya smashed a brilliant century against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. He scored the joint fourth-fastest hundred in the league’s history, reaching the mark in just 39 balls.

Priyansh Arya’s century was instrumental in helping Punjab Kings set a formidable total of 219, which they successfully defended by 18 runs on Tuesday, April 8. However, he couldn’t speak to MS Dhoni after the match.

“I feel truly grateful to have the chance to play against Dhoni sir. It’s something not many young players get to experience. I was under pressure because of his presence behind the stump. I wanted to have a word with Dhoni sir after the match, but he had already left the ground by then.” Priyansh Arya said during an interview.

The young left-hander spoke about the belief shown in him by head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer. He mentioned that Ponting had advised him not to stress about getting out for a duck in the previous match against Rajasthan Royals.

Arya also spoke about the encouragement he received from Ricky Ponting. “Ricky sir told me, Anyone can get out on the first ball, so if you see that ball again, hit it out of the park.”

Priyansh responded in the best way possible smashing the first ball for a six in the next game against CSK pacer Khaleel Ahmed.

Sharing more on his relationship with Ponting, Arya added, “He keeps reminding me to work on my pull shot. We don’t get into technical details much and our conversations are more about mindset and how to approach the game.”