“He is picking the length very early”: Cheteshwar Pujara lauds Priyansh Arya’s all-round hitting

Chennai : Former Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara highlighted Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter Priyansh Arya’s exceptional shot-making and awareness, noting that he reads length early and capitalises on both short and full deliveries with equal ease.
Pujara feels Arya’s ability to score all around the ground, strong on the leg side and equally effective on the off, leaves bowlers with very little margin for error, making him a highly challenging batter to contain.
Arya made 39 off 11 balls against the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), on Friday in Chennai.

Arya’s blazing start set the tone for Punjab Kings as they chased down a big target of 210 runs against Chennai Super Kings to register back-to-back wins in the IPL 2026.
“Priyansh Arya is picking the length very early. On that pitch, whenever the ball was slightly short, he didn’t miss out and often hit it for six. We saw that against bowlers like Matt Henry and Khaleel Ahmed, he is not missing the fuller deliveries either, which means the margin for error for bowlers becomes very small. He is strong on the leg side but also comfortable on the off side, and that makes him a very difficult batter to bowl to,” Pujara said on Star Sports.
The 24-year-old left-hand batter made a quickfire 39 off just 11 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes, which helped the PBKS cross the 60-run mark inside the powerplay. Arya was named Player of the Match for his impressive knock, which helped the Kings win the match by five wickets.