It's not often that six sixes get hit in an over. The number of cricketers who have done it can be counted on fingers, whether in international cricket, List-A, domestic cricket or at the club level. Those who have done it be it Ravi Shastri, Kieron Pollard, Yuvraj Singh or Herschelle Gibbs are often known for their that very act. The newest entrant to the list, the 22-year-old Priyansh Arya from Delhi, however, has his eyes set on making his Ranji Trophy debut for his stateside this year.
Arya, who missed out narrowly getting picked in the IPL auction last year, has been on fire for the South Delhi Superstarz in the ongoing Delhi Premier League. Arya has 602 runs to his name at a strike rate of 198 and 75 average, including a couple of centuries. Arya may get that IPL call this time around finally, however, his eyes are firmly on making his red-ball debut for Delhi.
"Test cricket is my favourite from my childhood. In my opinion, Test cricket is the main cricket. The player is literally tested by conditions, swing, etc. Hence, my main focus is to make my Ranji Trophy debut this year because the red-ball will be my priority this year. A day after DPL, I will begin my red-ball practice because it is tough," Arya said in an exclusive interaction with India TV.
Arya has six fifty-plus scores in nine innings so far and those six sixes against Manan Bhardwaj of North Delhi Strikers just topped them all. Arya ended up scoring 120 off 50 balls that day as he stitched a 286-run stand with his captain Ayush Badoni. Revealing his mindset while going hammer and tongs after the left-arm spinner, Arya said, "I think it was the 12th over and the left-arm spinner came in to bowl and I was set and I wanted to attack in that over. When I hit the fourth six, Ayush was batting alongside me and he said that 'it's not often that you get a chance to hit six sixes in an over, so you can go for it'."
A Gautam Gambhir fan, Arya has had a supportive family and gave a lot of credit to his first coach Sanjay Bhardwaj for his ability to be able to play so well at this young age. "I used to play in my gully before I told my father that I want to play cricket. I was around 9-10 years and my father supported me from the start," he said.
"He helped me join an academy. Sanjay Bhardwaj sir was my first coach. And from childhood only, sir used to play me with the older guys so that I can get better and learn faster day by day. I always played with the guys older than my age group as sir never let me play with the younger guys."
Arya may be on the upsurge, however, last year he suffered his short career's biggest heartbreak thus far, not getting picked in the auction. The left-handed opener also had numbers in Syed Mushtaq Ali to show for, scoring 212 runs at 166 strike rate and mentioning that it took some time for him to recover from that.
"I was really disappointed. It was very hurtful. But later I realised that I wasn't consistent. In 7-8 games, I scored only two fifties, so I worked on that aspect of my game to be as consistent as possible," Arya, who followed his promise to perfection, said.
You talk of consistency and the first name that springs up is Virat Kohli. RCB is Arya's favourite team because of Kohli and not his home side, the Delhi Capitals. "RCB is my favourite because of Virat bhaiya. I like his aggression and attitude on the field," he added.
It has gone according to the plan, maybe even better for Arya so far but this is only the start of the journey. But as he said, a Ranji Trophy debut and an IPL call-up would definitely top it all, and obviously the DPL trophy with the Superstarz.
