“Right now I’m thinking when I can play World Cup 2027 with Virat and Rohit. And we will win it. If you see they have almost all the trophies. World Cup 50-50.”
“They don’t have much right now. So I would like India to win the 2027 World Cup. And I will be a part of that team. And if we win it, it will be a very good thing for them.”
These were Prince Yadav’s words when asked about his immediate cricketing ambitions. And just a few days later, the pacer dismissed one of his heroes with a delivery which can easily be called the ball of the tournament in IPL 2026. But Prince doesn’t just define one moment.
In a pace attack with the likes of Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Anrich Nortje and Mayank Yadav, the Delhi pacer initially seemed an outlier. At the start of the season, the focus was on Mayank’s return, but Prince has quietly built a reputation as Lucknow’s bowler.
His three wickets in the must-win clash against RCB took him to 16 scalps in 10 matches.
Right now though, much of the buzz is around one Virat Kohli delivery – the ball that has captured the imagination of fans. Using Kohli’s own advice against himPrince produced a moment of magic and broke through the Indian giant’s stout defence.
The moment got people talking and Ambati Rayudu was quick to back him for bigger things.
“I think he will make his debut for India soon. The guy is a special talent. We saw it during the IPL and also the way he runs in the run-up shows in itself that he is there with a fight. He passes the ball hard and if you look at it, most of his deliveries hit the stumps.”
“That’s a specialty and the ball (for Kohli) was very, very special. It’s a beautiful bowling ball that swung right in front of the bat. I don’t think any batsman in the world can play them,” Rayudu told ESPNcricinfo.
WHAT DOES PRINCE BRING TO THE JOB?
One of the key factors behind Prince’s success is his ability to impress at every phase of the innings, no matter how Rishabh Pant chooses to use him. He can set the tone in the powerplay, control the middle overs and take responsibility at the death.
And the numbers confirm it.
Among the 22 pacers who bowled at least 25 overs this season, Prince has the second-best average (18.68) and the third-best economy rate (8.08).
Among the 44 bowlers who have bowled at least 20 overs this season, he has the most even workload across phases – 37.8 per cent with the new ball, 29.8 per cent in the middle overs and 32.4 per cent at the death.
The hallmark of Prince’s bowling is his control over the length and his ability to swing the ball both ways. The delivery to Kohli was pitched perfectly – an overflow machine behind which he rolled sharply to drive away outside the off-stump.
With the new ball, he operated consistently in good length areas and on the back side of the length, returning figures of six for 67. He has taken three wickets with the inswinger and two with the outswinger this season.
In the middle overs, he used hard lengths effectively to take four wickets while keeping control of the scoring rate.
His performances also impressed RCB captain Rajat Patidar, who hailed him as an absolutely fast bowler.
“I’ve seen him from the beginning. He’s got a lot of variation. He’s got pace. He’s got swing. He’s a proper fast bowler.”
“One of his qualities is that he has confidence in his abilities,” Patidar said. “That’s commendable. I’ve seen him for a long time. He gave his team an (important early) breakthrough – he’s an expert at it. Watch out! I’ve never seen him give a lot of runs. I think it was a game-changing spell.”
THE RIGHT MENTALITY
Beyond his skills, Prince has the ability to cope. He is constantly trying to learn and improve, which is evident in the way he has worked closely with Shami.
“I learned a lot from him (Shami) about the new ball. But the best thing about him is that whenever a bowler bowls, he stands in the middle or in the middle. So when you have such an experienced player standing with you, it’s a different level of confidence,” Prince said.
While the dismissal of Kohli was a special momentteam success remains his top priority.
“I felt good after (Kohli’s) wicket, but I’m most happy that we won the match. If I took the wicket and we lost, it wouldn’t have been that (good),” Prince said.
The ingredients are clearly there and India may have found another promising piece for their pace attack.
With series against Afghanistan Cricket Team and Zimbabwe Cricket Team coming up, this could be the perfect window for Prince to take the next step and make his debut.
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Published on:
08 May 2026 18:00 IST
