Till Monday evening, Priyansh Arya must have been a relative unknown. But the people who matter at three IPL franchises - Delhi Capitals (DC), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) - had certainly heard of him, and wanted him in their team for IPL 2025. Eventually, he went to PBKS, who forked out INR 3.80 crore (USD 450,000 approx.) for him. That's what hitting six sixes in an over in a competitive local T20 league can do.
But he did more than just hit those six sixes for South Delhi Superstarz at the inaugural Delhi Premier League in August this year. He was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 608 runs in ten innings opening the batting for his team.
Arya loves hitting sixes down the ground
In the very first match of the Delhi Premier League, against Old Delhi 6, Arya hit 57 runs in 30 balls, and followed it up with 82 in 51 balls against Central Delhi Kings, hitting seven sixes. The carnage continued. Against East Delhi Strikers, he scored 53 in 32 balls, against Old Delhi 6, he hit 107 runs in 55 balls, and against Central Delhi he again scored 88 in 42 balls.
Then came that innings that made headlines. South Delhi Superstarz scored 308 for 5 in their 20 overs against North Delhi Strikers, and Arya contributed 120 in 50 balls in that. That was the game in which he hit Manan Bharadwaj, a left-arm spinner who even sent one delivery in right-handed to try something different, for six sixes in an over, the 12th of the innings. All of Arya's sixes were in the "V" down the ground.
Overall, his 608 runs came at a strike rate of 198.69 and an average of 67.56. He his 43 sixes in those ten innings.
On to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
The performance in the Delhi Premier League put Arya in the Delhi squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season - he had played the tournament, as well as the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, the previous season too - and while run-scoring hasn't been as easy there as it was at the Delhi Premier League, he hit 102 in 43 balls, with five fours and ten sixes, against Uttar Pradesh. The timing couldn't have been better: that century came November 23, the day before the IPL 2025 auction began.
More importantly, take a look at who the Uttar Pradesh bowling line-up had: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shivam Mavi and Piyush Chawla. Apart from Bhuvneshwar, everyone conceded runs at more than ten an over.
The Gautam Gambhir connection
Arya's parents are teachers in a government school in Delhi, and he trains under Sanjay Bhardwaj, Gautam Gambhir's former coach.
"When I was young, I used to watch Gautam Gambhir sir bat in the nets," Arya told ESPNcricinfo during the Delhi Premier League. "When I grew up a little, I started talking to him. Apart from this, Ayush Badoni [of Lucknow Super Giants] is my good friend. He is also our captain in the Delhi Premier League and he has IPL experience also. So I interact with him a lot on and off the pitch and his experience is very useful to me."
The bidding war at the IPL 2025 auction
DC first bid for Arya when he was introduced at his base price of INR 30 lakh on the second day of the auction in Jeddah. PBKS got involved. The price gradually reached INR 1 crore. RCB got involved around then. The price rose, till PBKS, who had more money to spare at that point, got their man at INR 3.80 crore.