New Chandigarh, April 9 Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer described youngster Priyansh Arya's match-winning maiden IPL ton against Chennai Super King as one of the best innings "he has ever seen" in the tournament.
PBKS on Tuesday returned to winning ways in the IPL 2025 with an 18-run victory over CSK, riding on 22-year-old opener Arya's blistering 103. The right-hander recorded the fastest century by an uncapped player in IPL history, reaching the landmark in just 39 deliveries.
While the wickets kept falling on the other end, the left-hander smashed 103 runs off 42 balls with seven boundaries and nine sixes in his innings.
"The way Priyansh played was scintillating to watch. It was an out-of-the-world type of innings. When I spoke with him in the last game, he was a bit timid in his decision-making when he faced Jofra Archer.
"Today, he backed his instincts. He was free-flowing, and that's the mindset I want everyone to have in this team. Basically, it was one of the top knocks I have seen in the IPL," Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Arya's explosive innings set the momentum for PBKS, and the lower-middle order comprising Shashank Singh and Marco Jansen, too, added crucial runs to the board. While Shashank scored an unbeaten 52 off 36 balls, Jansen also added an unbeaten 34 off 19 balls as Punjab posted a total of 219/6 in 20 overs.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Shashank, who came on to bat when Punjab Kings were at 83/5, explained his mindset coming down to the crease.
"When I went to bat, I had a word with Priyansh and I told him to continue to play positively. He was playing cricketing shots. I have known him for the last few months, and he was batting the same way he bats at the nets. I told him to express himself. My job was to rotate strike and take singles. I needed to stay till the end, and by god's grace, we were able to do that and post a challenging total," he said.
Shashank was also asked about the middle order not performing with the bat, but the Punjab batter said that losing quick wickets is the nature of the format.
"T20 is a format where you express yourself. We have batting till number 8-9. That is the freedom we have given. It's obvious not everyone will perform every day. So, today the middle-order did not click, but this happens in T20," he said.
Devon Conway led CSK's run chase, scoring 49 ball 69, while Rachin Ravindra and Shivam Dube, too, contributed with the bat. Eventually, the target proved too steep to chase down, and CSK could only muster 201/5 in 20 overs.
Shashank spoke on the importance of the win at home and said, "If you want to qualify for the top four, you have to win the home games. Especially the ones that are end-to-end games. These are crucial matches. We had a good practice session. We did a lot of work before the start of IPL. We had a lot of practice matches here that helped us in knowing about the conditions. Having momentum in this tournament is important and, hopefully, we can keep the same going forward."
Meanwhile, Iyer insisted that his side is yet to play their best game of the season but added they will focus on the positives ahead of the upcoming matches.
"We have not played our best game yet. The nerves are still there. We need to go back and do group catching sessions. But we won the game, and we need to focus on the positives," he signed off.
Punjab Kings will next face off against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, on Saturday.
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