A fantastic innings that puts him among the greats: Mark Boucher on Priyansh Arya's ton

JioStar expert Mark Boucher praised Priyansh Arya’s stunning century against Chennai Super Kings, highlighting his resilience amidst constant pressure at the other end: "This is the biggest stage, and this is where you want to perform. I almost got the feeling that he woke up that morning and said, I’m going to score a hundred off 40 balls today, no matter what. What’s truly special is what you don’t always see in the highlights that is the wickets were constantly falling from the other end. He showed the bravery to stick to his game plan and kept going no matter what. It was a fantastic innings, and he’s now up there with some of the greatest for that 100 in 39 balls."

Robin Uthappa shared thoughts on Chennai Super Kings' performance against Punjab Kings: “They started well, scoring almost 9.8 or 9.9 runs per over, which is as good as you can expect with the kind of openers they have. But you can’t let the game slip in the middle overs, especially when chasing a big total. Approach in the overs from 7 to 12 were very quiet. You need big overs right after the powerplay to keep the pressure on the opposition. Winning the powerplay is one thing, but owning the middle overs is what wins you games and they failed to do that, again. In the last two overs, they needed 42 runs, which is just too many. Had they managed a couple of 15 to 20 run overs in the middle, that equation could have come down to needing just 22 to 25 runs at the end. The intent just wasn’t there.”

Uthappa emphasized how Punjab Kings' use of multiple home venues this season is affecting their home-ground advantage: “That’s what’s delaying their ability to make a venue a true fortress. Winning at home matters and for that, you need a consistent home venue. Even at New Chandigarh, the pitch has been playing well and producing good totals. But how do you defend those scores without understanding the nuances of the ground. You only gain that knowledge of what's defendable and chase-able by playing repeatedly at the same venue. It’s still a relatively new ground and adding Dharamshala into the mix delays that learning curve even more. That kind of familiarity takes time.”