Priyansh Arya's weakness exposed by Anil Kumble after sublime batting performance vs KKR in IPL 2025

Former India coach Anil Kumble has heaped praise on Punjab Kings (PBKS) opener Priyansh Arya following his exceptional form during the ongoing IPL 2025 season. The former leg-spinner stated that Arya has exceptional timing while playing shots, but also revealed the weakness of the young batter.

Arya continued his impressive debut season in Match 44 of IPL 2025 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday, April 26. The young opener scored 69 runs off just 35 balls, including eight boundaries and four sixes. Punjab Kings posted a competitive total of 201/4 before rain played spoilsport in Kolkata.

Fielders Were Just Looking at Each Other - Anil Kumble on Priyansh Arya's Timing

In a video shared by ESPNCricinfo (formerly Twitter), Anil Kumble was impressed with Priyansh Arya’s sublime timing. Kumble said that the ball seemed to effortlessly ping off his bat, leaving fielders stunned and merely looking at each other as the ball raced away.

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"I think his timing is sublime. I mean, the way he was hitting the ball, it just pinged off the bat. It looked like he was just tapping it and then, you know, the fielders were just looking at each other," Kumble said on ESPNCricinfo.

Does Priyansh Arya have any weakness? #TimeOut | #KKRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/yRg3yzQ0ls

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 27, 2025

Maybe Just Tighten Up a Little Bit - Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble also stated the weakness in Priyansh Arya’s batting, noting that most of his shots were through the offside. He said that Vaibhav Arora may have made it easier for Arya early on by consistently bowling outside off stump without much movement.

"Maybe just tighten up a little bit because all his shots were on the offside. I thought initially, you know, Vaibhav Arora sort of fed him on that line coming around the stumps," Kumble stated.

"There wasn’t much movement. So, when there’s not much movement, you generally try and bowl on middle and leg rather than outside off. That probably gave him the impetus early in his innings," he concluded.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings Abandoned Due to Rain at Eden Gardens

The IPL 2025 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings was abandoned after rain interrupted the second innings at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

PBKS won the toss and chose to bat first on a dry pitch. Openers Priyansh Arya (69) and Prabhsimran Singh (83) added 120 runs together. Arya was the more aggressive of the two, while Singh played with a cautious approach before showcasing his stroke play.

After their dismissals, the pace slowed down as the new batters struggled on the two-paced surface. Iyer (25*) and Josh Inglis (11*) managed to find a couple of boundaries, guiding PBKS to a total of 201/4 in 20 overs.

KKR’s Vaibhav Arora picked up two wickets in the first innings. However, rain began after KKR scored seven runs in one over, and further play was not possible due to persistent showers.

Also read: Sai Sudharsan, Virat Kohli, Nicholas Pooran? Shaun Pollock declares the best batsman of IPL 2025