Who is Prince Yadav? The Pacer Who Once Dismissed King Kohli
Pacer Prince Yadav has earned his debut cap for India. The call to the Indian team has come after his cricketing career suffered a significant setback in 2019 when the BCCI imposed a two-year ban on him for fudging his age. During this time, Yadav worked extremely hard on his fitness and when he came back, he impressed everyone in the domestic circuit with his pace and accuracy. He also dismissed King Kohli in the IPL.
After registering an emphatic win against Afghanistan in the first ODI of the on-going bilateral series, India made three changes to the playing XI for the second ODI in Lucknow. One of the most notable changes was, the team management decided to hand the debutant cap to fast bowler, Prince Yadav. Also, the southpaw opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal earned his place back at the top of the batting line-up after all-rounder, Nitish Kumar Reddy was left out due to an injury.
Shreyas Iyer, the deputy-in-chief for this series, handed the India cap to the debutant, Prince Yadav, before the toss, while captain, Shubman confirmed the changes in the playing XI after the visitors asked India to bat first.
Maiden appearance in Indian jersey for Prince Yadav
The inclusion of Prince Yadav in Team India during the Indo-Afghanistan series is a major milestone in his career, who enjoyed remarkable success over the past two seasons in the domestic tournament and IPL.
The 24-year-old youngster from Delhi, Yadav, played for the IPL team, Lucknow Super Giants in the 2026 season, and scalped 14 wickets in 14 appearances for the team. He was earlier chosen to be the net bowler for the franchise during the 2025 season.
Known to mix his pace with clever variations, Yadav first turned the selector’s eye towards him after he dismissed Virat Kohli during one of the matches and registered his career-best IPL figures in the same match, where he ended with figures of 3 for 32.
Banned for two years
Prince Yadav’s path to International cricket was marred by a significant setback in 2019 when he was banned from playing all forms of cricket by the BCCI after he was proven guilty of age-fudging in under-19 cricket.
The apex body of Indian cricket acted after receiving information from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that his DOB was June 10, 1996, while the documents he submitted to the BCCI listed his birth date as December 12, 2001.
The ban ruled him out of action for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 domestic seasons, which also coincided with the Covid-19 lockdown period. During his tim away from the field, his coach, Amit Vashist, said “he focused on improving his fitness.”
Source
The Times of India