Ashok vihar

LB Shastri Cricket Club: As a seven-year-old kid in New Delhi’s Ashok Vihar, Priyansh Arya was just getting started in his cricketing journey. At the LB Shastri Cricket Club, he had started to train under illustrious cricket coach Sanjay Bhardwaj, whose pupils include India’s current head coach, Gautam Gambhir.

It was also the time when Priyansh, just liked any other kid in India, was glued to their TV screens on April 18, 2008 to witness the first game of the Indian Premier League (IPL). At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Brendon McCullum provided for more fireworks after the spectacular opening ceremony by slamming a breath-taking unbeaten 158 off just 73 deliveries, including 10 fours and 13 sixes.

Seeing that knock from McCullum awakened a dream within Priyansh – to play like him and take the IPL by storm by hitting a lot of sixes. Cut to now, and Priyansh, 23, finds himself in an IPL environment for the first time, with the left-handed opener expected to be the cynosure of all eyes when Punjab Kings open their 2025 season against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.