“Agar bade match ka player banna hai, to is match mein score karna hoga (Score well today if you want to be a big-match player),” replied Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer to a young Priyansh Arya, who had asked about his approach in the 204-run chase against Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 earlier this year. The 24-year-old understood the assignment but didn’t achieve the desired outcome. Priyansh was out for 20. Even in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he could muster 24 off 19 before falling prey to Josh Hazlewood. Punjab lost to RCB in the race to a maiden IPL title, leaving Priyansh and his teammates shattered. Not many debutants make it to the IPL final. The Delhi youngster did, but the end result still stings. Speaking to CNN-News18 Cricketnext, Priyansh said, “Buraa to abhi bhi lagta hai… final tha! (I still feel bad, it was the IPL final!).” “Reaching the final after so many years (for PBKS) was special. For me, it was my first final and Punjab’s first in 11 years. I still feel I could have contributed more, but things didn’t go our way. That regret will stay until we finally win a title,” he added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Priyansh Arya (@_arya_priyansh) Priyansh was back to the grind just a few hours after the IPL final heartbreak. While the focus after final shifted to RCB’s ill-fated title celebration and the chaos outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the youngster quietly returned home to play in Delhi’s Hot Weather tournament — scoring a century in the final a couple of weeks later to lead his side to the title. The two months of IPL seem to have given him a life-altering experience. A hefty INR 3.8 crore deal, a breathtaking century against Chennai Super Kings and ending the season as Punjab’s third-highest scorer, added up to a dream debut season. Precisely, he went into the tournament as a rookie but returned as a rising star. People in Delhi have begun recognising him, and even a few demand selfies nowadays. Apart from his daily life, what has also changed is his mindset. He now expects more from himself. Be it local tournaments or even the ongoing Delhi Premier League (DPL), Priyansh has raised the bar for himself. “Now in every match there is more expectation from myself, whether I play a local match or right now I am playing DPL, but the performance has not been as good as I was thinking. There is more expectation from myself,” he said. “Still, I never let that affect me. I stay positive, trust myself, and avoid negative thoughts. Even when I got out early in a few games, I focused on improving and realised I need to spend more time at the crease.” For Arya, cricket is as much mental as physical. “Mentally, I always try to keep believing in myself, and I try that no negative thoughts come inside me, like ‘I cannot do it’. The more I keep believing in myself, the more positive I stay,” he added. Arya announced himself by smashing world-class bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, and Rashid Khan. His fearless batting peaked in just his fourth match, where he notched his maiden IPL century and left someone like Ravichandran Ashwin biting the dust. “I never felt challenged by any bowler in the IPL. I believed I could handle them all. The same players feature in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, including India’s internationals, so the level didn’t feel very different,” he said. Priyansh very well falls under the ‘aggressive batter’ category. Speaking of his mindset, it only got clearer after he decided to switch from middle-order to the top, coming into Delhi’s Under-23 side. “I used to bat in the middle order in the under-19. I started opening from under-23 because at that time there was no place in the middle order. By opening, my mindset changed a little about how to take advantage of the powerplay,” Priyansh said. “My attacking mindset is such that the first thought that comes in my mind, I play according to that only,” he added. It’s pretty self-explanatory now how a rookie left-handed opener shone right from his IPL debut against the Gujarat Titans and kept mesmerising the audience throughout the season. When asked about his favourite moment, Priyansh chuckled and said, “Six off Jasprit Bumrah, over long on [in Jaipur].” A talent unearthed in the inaugural season of the DPL last year flourished at a bigger stage. With learnings from coach Ricky Ponting and valuable lessons from captain Iyer, Priyansh looks forward to making his way into Delhi’s red-ball team. “I wanted to play red-ball cricket, but my debut couldn’t happen last season,” he said. “I hope it will happen this year. I really want to play Ranji – I’ve said this before. I’m excited for the upcoming domestic season. I’m even working on a few things… which I can’t tell you right now,” Arya concludes with a sheepish laugh.