Former India opener Abhinav Mukund described young Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter Priyansh Arya as one of the top players in the IPL. Admitting that there is greater hype around the likes of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal heading into the upcoming edition, he opined that Arya should also be placed in the same league.

Arya (24) made a stunning IPL debut for PBKS last season, smashing 475 runs at an average of 27.94 and a strike rate of 179.24. The opening batter’s stats included one hundred and two half-centuries.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Mukund was effusive in his praise for Arya and commented:

“I think he’ll be fine. I think he’s one of the top players in the league, where so much is being spoken about Vaibhav, and you’ve got Jaiswal. You’ve got your left-handed openers. Arya’s in the conversation.”

The 36-year-old asserted that PBKS young guns from Arya and Prabhsimran Singh can be expected to perform even better in IPL 2026, having gained some India A experience. He elaborated:

“The Indian players, who were a little bit of an unknown quantity last year, are now in the India A ranks. Like you’ve got Priyansh Arya, who’s consistently playing India A, Prabhsimran is there. So, these guys have made it up the grade. The stocks are going up, which is a great thing to have in your side.”

Like Arya, his opening partner Prabhsimran also had an impressive year with the willow for PBKS last season. In 17 matches, he scored 549 runs at an average of 32.29 and a strike rate of 160.52, with four half-centuries.

“They constantly maintained that run rate” – Abhinav Mukund on PBKS’ batting strategy in IPL 2025 season

One of the main reasons behind PBKS reaching the IPL final last year was their strong batting line-up that fired in most games. According to Mukund, Punjab will remain a dangerous side if they manage to replicate the same batting formula this season as well. He elaborated:

“I think last year what Punjab did was kept high pace at the top. They sent [Josh] Inglis at three and played Shreyas at four, which made sense. So, if they do that, and an early wicket falls, they might end up gambling with [Mitch] Owen at three and push everyone down in the order. But the one thing that they got going for them last season was the good opening start. Other than that, they constantly maintained that run rate.”

Punjab will begin their IPL 2026 campaign with a match against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Mullanpur on March 31.