New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) Ricky Ponting is there to help him sort out technical issues in his game, but for Priyansh Arya, his childhood coach and mentor Sanjay Bhardwaj plays a very different role: teaching him how to train his mind to beat ‘second-season blues’ in the IPL.
Priyansh, the sensational left-hander from Delhi, attained instant stardom last year by scoring 475 runs for Punjab Kings in his debut season. This season brought an even bigger challenge: ensuring his first season wasn’t a fluke.
The IPL is replete with examples of Paul Valthatys and Swapnil Asnodkars, but Bhardwaj — the man who coached Gautam Gambhir — always knew Priyansh was made of different mettle.
After an 11-ball-39, 20-ball-57, and 37-ball-93 in the current season, the southpaw has proved that he isn’t a flash in the pan and doesn’t carry the proverbial ‘headweight’ after one good season.
“This year, what I have been trying to tell him and hammer it in is this — when you enter the cricket ground, you are not supposed to carry a ‘headweight’ and feel like you have arrived, your social status has changed after last year’s performance.
“I told him ‘keep your ‘social status’ outside the stadium. The runs you have made is product of your hard work and blessings of Almighty,” Bhardwaj, the heart and soul of Delhi’s famous LB Shastri Club, told PTI on Monday.
Having coached hundreds of kids over last three decades, Bhardwaj knows what instant stardom, that comes with the IPL, can do to any youngster.
“Normally what happens with kids who see instant success and riches after a season of IPL, they carry a lot of baggage. The on-field pressure of expectations and also at the back of your mind, the desperation to maintain the ;stardom’ they had achieved in the first season,” Bhardwaj said.
He shares a ‘guru shishya’ kind of relationship with Priyansh, whose most endearing quality is his ability to listen and soak in the important part of any piece of advice.
“Like Gautam Gambhir, I am also Priyansh’s mentor. Gautam from his early teenage days would always look out for me for advice, the same thing happens with Priyansh. Priyansh understands that ‘agar mere guru bol rahein hai kuch, toh woh mere bhale ke liye hi hoga (If my coach is advising me on something, it’s for my own good).” Bhardwaj also credited Priyansh’s parents — school teachers both — for keeping him grounded after a stupendous debut IPL season.
“Even his parents played a massive role. Both are government school teachers. They told Priyansh that we are sorted and you don’t need to think about us. Rather you focus on your game and when you would turn your back, we would be standing right there. That’s how you help a talent blossom.” Distraction free training, matches in remote areas ================================== Bhardwaj nowadays spends almost 10 months of the year on the outskirts of Bhopal, at a place called Bilkisganj where he has built a residential cricket academy in the form of a ‘Gurukul’, with young trainees not allowed to waver in their endeavour for excellence.
“Priyansh had trained here before 2025 IPL. This time, he came for a few days. This is a remote area, distraction free. I don’t allow trainees to use mobile phone for more than one hour a day. The lights are switched off by 9:30 pm and everyone needs to be at the ground next day by 6 am.
“I pay for at least 25 to 30 tournaments that we participate across India,” Bhardwaj proudly stated.
What sets Priyansh apart is that even this year, before the IPL, he travelled with the LB Shastri team to Mansa in Punjab.
“Biggest character trait that I have found in Priyansh is that the IPL razzmatazz hasn’t changed him one bit. He wanted to do match practise before IPL. He came with us to Mansa and scored a 28-ball century. He hasn’t tinkered with his strengths. His forte is tremendous bat-speed with hand eye co-ordination and playing the ball late. He sticks to those,” Bhardwaj laughed.
After the game against LSG, Priyansh called his coach late Sunday night.
“He called up at 1 pm after getting back to the hotel. Today morning, he did a video call with our trainees. They also get excited when they see their Priyansh bhaiyya motivating them.” Unlike other coaches Bhardwaj is very practical about how much a coach can help his ward and in what way.
“What is the job of a coach?,” he asked rhetorically.
“To create a conducive environment for his students and allow them to maximise their potential.
“Coaches player nahi banate hain. Coach mahaul banata hai aur us mahaul ko kaunsa baccha kitna istemal karega, woh uske upar nirbhar hai. Agar coach player banata toh har player Gautam aur Priyansh bante. (Coaches don’t make players. They only create environment to help their students. Else all my students would have been Gautam Gambhir or Priyansh Arya.” PTI KHS KHS AH AH
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