Following the blackout in Dharamsala due to attacks in Pathankot, roughly 90 km from the hill city, that led to the match’s abandonment, Punjab Kings’ dazzler Priyansh Arya shone brightly with a 34-ball 70, offering joy for the patient fans that lingered despite the rain and unease of the war in the background.
For much of the evening, the match seemed destined to be washed away by unseasonal rain. But then, rain relented, and at half past eight o’clock, Arya and Prabhsimran Singh strode out to the middle amid gun-toting men in Army fatigues, against . Just 12 games old, the 23-year-old has captured the imagination to such an extent that the crowd began to chant his name akin to the Sachin anthem that was the most ubiquitous soundtrack of Indian arenas in the 90s and aughts.
More often than not, he disappoints them; that’s a risk entailed with his high-risk brand of batting, a bargain he is ready to strike. But there are nights when he makes up for them with edge-of-the-seat batsmanship, where the heartbeat cannot resist its furious pounding. It took just one ball to raise the excitement scale.
Priyansh Arya served up special shots like these during his entertaining 7⃣0⃣(34) 👏
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Mitchell Starc dished up an unusual loosener, which he clipped past fine-leg for his first boundary. The next stroke probably set the tone of one of the stormiest nights in the history of the league. He disdainfully slapped him over point, tip-toeing on his back foot and freeing his long and supple arms.
In the next hour, he absorbed the audience into his world. The identity, stature or nature of the bowlers did not bother him. It did not matter to him whether the ball clocked 145 or 75 kph, whether it was a virtuoso left-arm quick or a malevolent left-arm wrist spinner. He scythed and sliced, cuffed and cudgelled them to all corners of the stadium, masking the lethargic outfield with the concoction of power and timing.
The only bowler that seemed to trouble him temporarily was Dushmantha Chameera at the start. He eked out only six runs off his first six balls. Then, he uncorked the stroke that devastated the Sri Lankan seamer’s morale. He angled a shortish ball into his leg-stump, and he short-arm jabbed him over deep square leg.
Chameera’s mind would have slipped back into his teenage years, where he would have watched with marvelled eyes his national team coach Sanath Jayasuriya author similar strokes. His night grew darker, as Arya smeared him for a four and another six, the latter a ferocious thump over long-on’s head.
Like several of the new-age, left-handed T20 openers from India, he sets himself up on the back foot. He doesn’t have a pronounced front-foot stride; rather loves to ride the bounce and hit on the up. But when the spinners arrive, he jumps out to them without any hesitation whatsoever. He telegraphs his intentions quite early, and subsequently, bowlers drop their length.
But he does not check or change his stroke; rather goes full throttle, augmented by a delightful balance, marked by the stillness of his head, a fluid transfer of weight into the shot and a supreme extension of the arm. He is not particularly a tall man, just two feet short of six, but he has lean and long arms that enable him to get the reach he wants, making him look taller than he actually is.
Kuldeep realised this trait to his chagrin. Arya sashayed down the track to a tossed-up stock ball, realised he was far from the pitch but went through with his plan, and deposited the ball irretrievably into the roof. He repeated the strike next ball, leaving Kuldeep shaken. A few balls ago, he struck the most difficult of his half-dozen swipes over the fence. An over-spun Axar ball bounced a tad more than he had judged. But never mind, he got himself tall, got under the ball fully and with a sweet, straight swing pillaged the ball over long-off. Then to flaunt his eye to improvise, he reverse swept Kuldeep, whose bagful of variations was exhausted.
A joyous six-hitter — it’s hard to believe his claim that he was reluctant to strike maximums at the start of his career — he has bypassed a raft of more famous and powerful ones to sit second on the table (28, hitting one every eight balls he faces). Add the tally of 42 fours, and it’s reasonable to assume that India have unearthed another free-wheeling opener.
Eventually, on what would be the last ball of the night, Arya perished to the slowness of T Natarajan’s short ball. Eleven minutes later, the match was called off, with on 122/1 in 10.1 overs.. It was as though the night, one of the strangest in the league’s history, had only one purpose. A wondrous show of six-hitting by Arya.
In terms of their IPL fortunes, Punjab Kings would feel slightly relaxed despite the match getting abandoned as they have managed 16 points and are on third (based on net run rate). But they are not fully guaranteed of the play-offs as both and have 14 points. All three have two games apiece. A win could seal ’s entry to the last four in what could be a photo-finish race. and DC are slated to duel on May 15, which could virtually be a knockout.
