There was a moment in the 13th over tonight when it felt like Priyansh Arya was batting in a different sport from everyone else on the field.

He and Cooper Connolly had just taken 32 runs off Aiden Markram in a single over, Priyansh Arya finishing it with two consecutive sixes, one hammered straight down the ground and another whipped over deep mid-wicket with the kind of casual violence that makes you check whether the bowler is actually trying.

At that point PBKS were threatening the all-time IPL record of 287 and Priyansh Arya was on course for what would have been one of the great IPL centuries. He was eventually dismissed for 93 off 37 balls and left Mullanpur to a standing ovation, having produced the most spectacular innings of his young career in a partnership that dismantled LSG so completely that the result was never really in doubt.

PBKS vs LSG: How Priyansh Arya’s innings unfolded in Mullanpur

PBKS were in early trouble when Prabhsimran Singh fell for a golden duck and suddenly the opening stand that has been the foundation of Punjab’s unbeaten season was gone before it started. What followed was a masterclass in how one batsman can completely reframe a match on his own.

Arya weathered Mohammed Shami’s opening spell, Shami is at his most dangerous early and getting through him without losing your wicket is an achievement in itself, before targeting Mohsin Khan with wristy pulls and lofted drives that immediately told you this was going to be a special evening.

He brought up his fifty off just 19 balls, the joint-fastest fifty of IPL 2026, and barely paused for breath after that. The partnership with Connolly grew into something extraordinary, 182 runs at a rate of over 12 per over in the middle phase of the innings, with Arya providing the explosiveness and Connolly the steady accumulation that made the combination so difficult to bowl at.

The most eye-catching moment came in that Markram over but there were other flourishes throughout, a clever scoop for four off Siddharth, a wristy six over backward point off a wide Avesh Khan yorker that required exceptional hand-eye coordination to even make contact with. This was not just hitting. This was batting.

PBKS vs LSG: The dismissal of Priyansh Arya

In the 15th over Arya attempted to drive a full delivery from Manimaran Siddharth back over the bowler’s head for a sixth straight boundary and this time Mitchell Marsh held a spectacular catch right at the boundary rope. Seven runs short of a century.

The kind of dismissal that makes you wince because everything about that innings deserved a hundred at the end of it. He walked off knowing he had taken PBKS to a position where they were within touching distance of the all-time IPL record and had done it largely single-handedly after the opening wicket fell in the first over.

Here’s how fans reacted:

The Punjab Kings player who is making everyone pay attention

Priyansh Arya was bought for INR 3.80 crore at the 2025 mega auction, a price that already looks like one of the great IPL bargain buys after just one season and a bit.

He made headlines before his IPL breakthrough by hitting six sixes in an over twice in the Delhi Premier League, drawing inevitable comparisons to Yuvraj Singh, but what he is doing in IPL 2026 has moved beyond the novelty of raw power hitting into something more complete and more dangerous.

A strike rate above 240 from the opening position across five matches. More than 20 sixes in those five innings. The highest strike rate among all openers in the tournament.

Earlier in the season Priyansh Arya broke Virender Sehwag’s record for the fastest start for Punjab, smashing 57 off 20 balls against SRH. Tonight was 93 off 37 against a full-strength LSG attack.

PBKS are unbeaten in five games and Priyansh Arya is the single biggest reason why. The T20 World Cup selectors, if they are not already watching closely, have absolutely no excuse not to be.