A day after young Priyansh Arya announced his arrival into the big stage with an audacious 39-ball century to power Punjab Kings to a commanding victory over Chennai Super Kings, his coach, Sanjay Bharadwaj, revealed that the southpaw worked on his batting at a Gurukul-styled training centre near the Ratapani Forest in Madhya Pradesh for almost a month before the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Bharadwaj, who has shaped the careers of several India internationals including Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Nitish Rana, and Joginder Sharma, felt it is just the start for the 24-year-old left-handed opener, whose batting has always relied on exceptional hand-eye coordination.

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On Wednesday, the first thing Priyansh did on waking up after smashing the fastest century by an uncapped player in the IPL’s history, was by dialling his coach to seek his approval, “Namaste sir, theek tha (Was it okay?).”

Hailing from Delhi’s Ashok Vihar, Priyansh, who gained national spotlight last year after belting six sixes in an over for South Delhi Superstartz in the Delhi Premier League, received a simple one-liner from his coach, “Don’t get carried away, you have done well in one match, there’s a long way to go.”

Priyansh set ablaze the new PCA Stadium in Mullanpur on Tuesday with a whirlwind 103 off 42 deliveries, containing seven fours and nine massive sixes. Batting at a strike-rate of 242.54, Priyansh’s ton was the fifth fastest of the IPL, and Bharadwaj aptly explains the youngster’s batting approach with another one-liner.

“For Priyansh, it has always been see-the-ball, hit-the-ball. He’s a smart kid, give him width, he will punish you,” Bharadwaj said, while adding, “He has always been like this, plays with his instincts.”

Training at Gurukul-styled training centre

Priyansh, who has trained at Bharadwaj’s Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy since the age of 10, travelled to Bhopal ahead of the IPL to fine-tune his skills. Bharadwaj runs a Gurukul-styled residential training centre, situated approximately 20 kilometers away from Bhopal, near the Ratapani Forest of Madhya Pradesh, where Priyansh trained for almost a month.

“He was in the training centre for around a month. It’s totally cut off from the rest of the world, making it easier for trainees to focus on cricket. Priyansh was working on cut and pull shots, as he was tipped to open the innings for Punjab Kings,” he said.

At the centre, the players have access to mobile phones for only an hour, as the training involves a rigorous 12-hour process, starting as early as around 6:30 am.

Meanwhile, Priyansh’s father, Pawan Arya, a school teacher at Delhi’s Government Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, near Vishwavidyalaya metro station, is happy to watch his son in action on TV screens, after what transpired when he attended Punjab’s first home match against Rajasthan Royals.

“I’m happy for his performance, but I’ll limit myself to watching him on television.”

“There’s a reason for that, I travelled to Chandigarh to watch PBKS’ first home match against Rajasthan Royals, and he got out for a first-ball duck and now that I’m back home, watching him on TV, he hit a century,” Pawan said justifying his call with a smile.

A matter of 8-10 balls

On Tuesday, during the Punjab Kings’ innings, assistant coach Brad Haddin revealed how it took the management just a few balls during a practice game to zero in the southpaw as their first-choice opener for the season.

“He played about eight balls in a practice game before the IPL. That was enough for us to say that he has to play the first game,” said Haddin while speaking to the host broadcaster.