For young Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya, a talk with Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the top priority when they met Chennai Super Kings in Mullanpur on Tuesday. He didn’t get a chance and would now have to wait till the month-end for another opportunity.

“I’m lucky to have played alongside him (Dhoni). Not many people have had such luck,” the soft-spoken left-handed batter said in a virtual interaction on Thursday.

“I did feel the pressure, obviously, as he was there behind the stumps while I faced legendary bowlers like (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja. I wanted to speak to MSD, but I couldn’t as I was busy with the (post-match) interview, and he had left by then. I needed to talk to him.”

Punjab and Chennai will again meet on April 30 in Chennai.

On Tuesday, Priyansh hit a 42-ball 103, becoming the second fastest Indian player to score an IPL hundred. Another such sparkling innings and the 24-year-old may well get a compliment or two from Dhoni, who’s now set to lead CSK for the rest of the tournament.

Even with all the talk around him, Delhi boy Priyansh revealed how he wasn’t quite in the best frame of mind after falling for 8 and 0 against LSG and Rajasthan Royals, respectively.

Priyansh said: “Ricky sir (Ponting, head coach) told me, ‘if you get a similar kind of delivery first up, try to hit it out of the ground.’ That gave me a lot of confidence.

“So, I made my mind that way and just played according to my instincts.”

Was it a change in mindset when he smashed Khaleel Ahmed for a first-ball six after the first-ball dismissal off Jofra Archer in the Royals match?

“When I was going to bat at nets (before the CSK game), Shreyas bhaiyya (Iyer) asked me, ‘kya chal raha hai dimaag mein? (What’s on your mind?)’ Kuchh bekaar cheez boli thhi maine (I had said something very bland).

“He then told me to have a clear mind and just trust my instincts. He also told me not to be tense and that I would play all 14 matches,” Priyansh recalled.

By his own admission, the young gun — who once received kits from Gautam Gambhir at a Delhi Ranji Trophy camp — didn’t always have a bold approach as a batter.

“Attacking batsmen jab out hote hai toh bahut gandaa hi lagta hai. Aap kisiko bhi dekh lo (When attacking batsmen are dismissed, the manner of their dismissals doesn’t look good. See anyone of them). So, what I’m focused on are the shots I need to play,” he said.