IPL 2025: How Priyansh Arya got a Memorable Gift from India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir

Punjab Kings' rising star Priyansh Arya may be lighting up IPL 2025 with fearless strokeplay and record-breaking knocks, but behind his meteoric rise lies a quiet but profound influence of India head coach Gautam Gambhir.

The 24-year-old southpaw from Delhi, who recently smashed a stunning 39-ball century against Chennai Super Kings-the fastest by an uncapped player in IPL history- credits much of his mental toughness and batting discipline to early lessons picked up from Gambhir.

After a magnificent 100 against Chennai Super Kings, Priyansh continues to dominate in the ongoing match against SRH where he scored 36 runs off just 13 balls. But recently, the player shared a heartfelt incident involving Gambhir during his adolescent days.

How Gautam Gambhir made a day memorable for Priyansh Arya

Speaking to the media following his landmark performance, Priyansh reflected on how watching Gambhir during net sessions left a lasting impression.

"I used to call him[Sir] during my childhood days. Sanjay sir[Priyansh's coach] told us to watch Gambhir's batting and learn from him. So we used to see how he was playing, how he was playing in the nets. So he used to play like a match in the nets. It's not like he's a rash shot. So I got to learn a lot from that," he said.

And the player continued revealing that Gambhir once gifted him an entire kit bag. The former Indian cricketer is known for his backing of youngsters and Priyansh got a special present from him.

"I met him for the first time during my first Ranji Camp. So I was batting in the nets and he called me to his place and gave me all the new equipment with which he used to play. He gave me his entire kit bag the next day," Priyansh revealed.

Priyansh, who once rose to fame by hitting six sixes in an over during a Delhi Premier League match, has since matured into a formidable T20 batter. Signed by Punjab Kings for ₹3.8 crore, he's making headlines in his debut IPL season-and in many ways, carrying forward the fearless, no-frills cricketing ethos of his early role model.