The Priyansh Arya craze has taken the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm after the Punjab Kings opener slammed a maiden hundred against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) a couple of days back. Despite lack of support at the other end, the 24-year-old southpaw continued and went on to become the second-fastest Indian and fastest uncapped player to score an IPL hundred.
While the boy from Delhi’s Ashok Nagar has become a household fame in a matter of few days, his childhood coach Sanjay Bharadwaj revealed how Priyansh Arya made it to Delhi ranks during his early days. Having moulded Priyansh Arya from his younger days, Sanjay Bharadwaj knew his ward’s strengths.
But breaking into the ranks of Delhi cricket is not a easy. However, it was Sanjay Bharadwaj, who went out of his and paid a an entry fee of ₹45000 so that his pupil gets to play an club tournament and eventually have a shot at the U-19 trials.
According to Sanjay Bharadwaj, Priyansh Arya was not in the scheme of Delhi U-19 selection process and wanted his ward to play in the club tournament, which was being organised by a former India player.
“The U19 selector was Gurusharan Singh. I wanted Priyansh to feature in the tournament as I was confident he would become the Player of the Series. I thought if he ends up performing well, I will request Gurusharan to consider him for a trial,” Bharadwaj told HT.
Eventually, Priyansh Arya gave the trials after winning the Player of the Series while his club won the tournament. Since then, there was no looking back for Priyansh. He graduated to the Delhi senior team and scored 222 runs at a strike rate if 166.91 in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy before grabbing the headlines with his six sixes in the Delhi Premier League last year.
Despite Priyansh Arya’s success, Sanjay Bharadwaj wasn’t convinced to watch his ward pay live at the stadium. “I never make any request for passes. I have not requested even Gautam Gambhir. I don’t need passes. I watch matches on television. In the Delhi Premier League, I told him that until and unless you score 100 runs, I wouldn’t come to watch your match. The very same day, he scored a hundred and smashed six 6s in an over. Then I went to meet him,” he said.
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