New Delhi, April 8 (PTI) It was a day before the Indian Premier League mega auction when renowned Delhi coach Sanjay Bhardwaj was having brunch with a gentleman named Pawan Arya.
Bhardwaj, whose noted disciples include current India head coach Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Nitish Rana to name a few, made a prophecy to Arya, a government school teacher about his son Priyansh.
“I told Pawanji, aap ka beta at least Rs 2.70 crore par bikega kal. Baki Ishwar ki marzi (Your son will fetch minimum Rs 2.70 crore and rest is up to the Almighty. Priyansh was sold for 3.8 crore,” Bhardwaj, also known as “Guru ji”, told PTI after his ward waltzed to 39-ball-century against CSK on Tuesday night.
Bhardwaj was happy that the auction price didn’t get into his head. The 24-year-old southpaw had joined Bhardwaj’s Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy at the age of 10.
“When he hit six sixes for South Delhi Supetstars in Delhi Premier League last year, he was able to maintain composure. Even after there was bidding war at IPL auctions, he quietly practised. He hasn’t changed since his father brought him to me as a 10-year-old. He is 24 now but remains same.”
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“His parents, both government school teachers have inculcated good values in him.”
Just before IPL, Priyansh trained at an academy near Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary which is close to Bhopal.
“I have a residential academy in Bhopal near the jungles. Priyansh trained over there before IPL and worked on his game, range hitting before he joined Punjab Kings camp,” said the coach.
Ask any Delhi player, it is not always easy to get the breakthrough and Bhardwaj remembers how he had to actually ensure that a hefty club tournament entry fee of Rs 50,000 was paid so that his ward gets a shot at Delhi U19 trials.
“The tournament is organized by a former India player. Priyansh was 16 back then. 50,000 entry fee for a club like ours is a lot of money. But glad I paid it and Priyansh scored 93 and Gursharan Singh, then in charge of U19, put him in Cooch Behar squad and he scored nearly 400 runs.”
“He was selected for India U19 and played a tri-series game against Proteas colts.”
Priyansh’s forte is T20 and he can muscle any bowler without a lot of footwork.
Bhardwaj’s aim is to ultimately see his ward in India whites.
“Abhi uss pe bahot kaam baaki hai (He is a work in progress). We will work at my academy in Bhopal after IPL so that he can become a Delhi regular in Ranji Trophy,” Bhardwaj said.
But what made him smile was a gesture from his student on Tuesday.
“I normally never request for passes but there was someone I couldn’t turn down and I sent him a request for a couple of tickets. He texted me photo of the envelope and my acquaintances could watch the match,” he said.
Having got a good look at Priyansh during the pre-season camp, Punjab Kings support staff did not take long to be convinced of his special talent.
“He played about eight balls in a practice game before the IPL. That was enough for us to say that he has to play the first game,” assistant coach Brad Haddin told the host broadcaster soon after Priyansh’s sizzling innings.
