Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting revealed the two main highlights from Priyansh Arya‘s 103 off 42 balls against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday, April 8. Priyansh Arya scored the joint-fourth-fastest hundred in the history of the IPL and became the eighth uncapped player to hit a century in the tournament.
The hundred from the Delhi batter was the difference as PBKS defeated CSK by 18 runs. Ricky Ponting had a dressing room speech after the game where he discussed about what went right for the team and praised Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen and Lockie Ferguson for their roles in the win. He started the conversation with Priyansh Arya and his knock and pointed out how the 24-year-old was able to bounce back after being dismissed for a first-ball duck in the previous game against RR.
Young Punjab Kings (PBKS) opener Priyansh Arya put on quite a show in Mullanpur, smoking 103 off just 42 deliveries in Match 22 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 8 (Tuesday). And, PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting went on to say that he hasn’t seen too many better knocks than this in his career.
The left-hander smashed seven fours and nine sixes, operating at a strike rate of close to 250. Despite losing wickets at the other end, Priyansh Arya didn’t slow down and kept going for boundaries almost every single delivery.
Priyansh Arya’s career – A glimpse
Priyansh Arya is here, and he’s taken the IPL 2025 by storm. The Punjab Kings youngster, who blew a tad cold after an encouraging start in the first against Gujarat Titans, with scores of 47, 8 and 0, utilised his full potential to bludgeon a maiden IPL century against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday. Priyansh Arya’s innings, laced with 4 fours and 9 sixes, along with a half-century from Shashank Singh, powered PBKS to 219/6. In reply, CSK, despite a good chasing effort, fell 18 runs short, finishing on 201/5 to suffer their fourth defeat of the season.
Priyansh Arya played one of the best innings by an uncapped batter in the history of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday, April 8. Priyansh Arya scored a 39-ball hundred, the 4th fastest century in the tournament’s history, guiding his team to a victory over Chennai Super Kings. Priyansh Arya took on spinners Noor Ahmad and R Ashwin despite PBKS losing 5 wickets. Ashwin, particularly, felt the wrath of the Delhi batter, who deposited him for two sixes after the Chennai spinner had got rid of Wadhera and Maxwell.
This prompted Ruturaj to turn to his trusted weapon, Pathirana. But Priyansh Arya wasn’t fazed by the pacer and his unorthodox action and hit him for a hat-trick of sixes to go into the nineties. He edged Pathirana for a boundary to reach his hundred. 22 runs came off just boundaries in the over from the Sri Lankan pacer.
The PBKS coach Ricky Ponting was happy to see Priyansh hit a six off the first ball in the CSK game and said this was the attitude that the teams want to have. Ricky Ponting also praised the youngster for sticking to his game despite what happened in the previous game.
I haven’t seen better knocks than Priyansh Arya’s ton- Ricky Ponting
Priyansh Arya was out for a golden duck after getting bowled by Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer, but in the next match against Chennai Super Kings, he hit the first ball for a six over point. There was hesitation whatsoever. That is what impressed Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting the most about Priyansh Arya’s swashbuckling maiden IPL century on Tuesday night in Mullanpur. Priyansh Arya hit the second-fastest century by an Indian in the IPL by getting to the milestone off just 39 balls.
“I’ve been around in a lot of cricket games. I haven’t seen many better knocks than what I have seen tonight,” Ponting said in a video shared by Punjab Kings on their social media handles.
“There are two things that I want to highlight about Priyansh’s knock. You got out first ball last game and yet the first ball today sails 100 metre over point for a six. That says a lot about you and the attitude we all want to have. You’ve displayed that attitude to everybody today. Regardless of what happened last game, if you’ve made runs, if you haven’t, you stuck to your game.
“You displayed the attitude to put it back on the bowlers from the first ball. You did that. Unbelievable knock,” said the legendary Australian cricketer reacting to Arya’s 103 off 42 balls.
The left-handed opening batter who is playing his first season in the IPL, hit as many as nine sixes and seven fours in this blistering knock that laid the foundation for Punjab’s big 219 for six. Priyansh Arya put on a 71-run stand for the sixth wicket with Shashank Singh, who contributed an unbeaten 52 off 36 balls. Ponting was all praise for Shashank’s game awareness.
“Shashank coming in, the magnificent partnership as well with you and him. Awesome knock again. The thing I liked about yours is it’s smart, it’s calculating. You did what the team needed at that time. And I reckon I said a lot when you’re standing there to all of you, what does my team need from me right now And I reckon you assessed that today and you did exactly what your team needed from you in that spot. Awesome knock, Congratulations.”
Shashank got good support from lanky South African all-rounder Marco Jansen, who scored 34* off 19 balls.
“Marco, where are you, buddy? Very, very important runs there as well. I mean, 39 off 19 partnership, I don’t know what it was. But you talked about it at the time out. He said, I reckon we can get to 220 here. And we got to 219,” Ponting added.
“It’s actually the highest score ever at this venue. And we’ve done it when we were at our backs to the wall at 5 for 80. And that’s what we’ve done so far. Everyone’s been able to chip in so far. When we’ve needed it, guys have put their hand up and got the job done. That’s what good teams are all about.”
Despite the win and being 3-1 so far in the IPL 2025 season, Ricky Ponting feels that PBKS are yet to play their perfect game.
“We’re 3-1 right now. I still don’t think we’ve played anywhere near a perfect game of cricket. That’s going to come if we keep working hard,” said Ponting.
PBKS have won three of their four games, and their next encounter will be an away match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 12 (Saturday).
Also Read:Â PBKS vs CSK: Priyansh Arya’s Stupendous Ton Overshadow’s MS Dhoni’s Fire-Works