Former Team India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Murali Vijay has hailed Priyansh Arya as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Speaking on Star Sports, Vijay explained why the Punjab Kings (PBKS) opening batsman is going to be a must-watch talent in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.
Priyansh Arya was one of the talents who took IPL 2025 by storm. He played a vital role behind the great performance of Punjab Kings in the last season. With the exciting 24-year-old batsman at the helm, the team managed to book a spot in the finals to face Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Priyansh Arya announces his arrival in IPL 2025 with a blistering century
In his first IPL season, Arya scored 475 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of around 180. Which also includes a stormy innings of 103 runs in 42 balls against Chennai Super Kings. His overall T20 statistics are also very encouraging to read. In a brief domestic T20 career, he has a batting average of around 30 after playing 46 T20 matches at a strike rate of 169.10. However, the top-order batsman has only a few first-class matches and 16 List-A matches under his belt.
Murali Vijay strongly believes that Arya has all the skills to become an all-format cricketer for Team India in the future. Vijay praised the way the batsman executed his strokes while keeping his fundamentals correct. Against the spinners, when some batsmen struggled to score runs, Arya looked confident.
Murali Vijay explains why Arya can be an all-format batsman for Team India
Vijay told Star Sports, “Priyansh Arya appears to be a very interesting personality with a great sense of timing. He has all the ingredients to be a great player. The ability to strike against spinners between overs 7 to 15 is very important. This is the toughest stage to deal with in T20, but Priyansh Arya does that as a left-handed player and has the ability to reach all areas. I believe he will play at multiple levels.” And can become an all-format player.”
He further added, “His basics are very strong and his balance is impeccable, which is why he can reach both sides of the wicket. This helps him direct the good balls of the bowlers to different parts of the ground. As he plays more matches, his temperament and strength will come out even more. It is important not to be harsh on such players.”
Arya is learning from Yuvraj Singh
It is noteworthy that like Abhishek Sharma, PBKS batsman Priyansh Arya is also among the disciples of former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. Another top-order batsman of PBKS, Prabhsimran Singh is also under the guidance of Yuvraj.
After Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, Team India does not have any all-format opener in any team. Abhishek Sharma is the only player in T20Is, and Rohit Sharma is the only batsman in ODIs to have fixed batting positions, that is, the opening slots.
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