From tennis-ball cricket to dismantling Virat Kohli — the Prince Yadav story is just beginning

Prince Yadav's Versatility Stands Out in LSG's Lacklustre Campaign

Lucknow Super Giants are having one of those seasons that test the patience of even the most loyal fan. Six straight defeats before Thursday night's narrow win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru, a captaincy under scrutiny, a coaching staff defending choices that haven't worked, and a points table position that has all but ended their playoff hopes. In the middle of all that gloom, however, one figure has quietly stood up and made a name for himself — and Lucknow's young pacer Prince Yadav is the kind of story this campaign desperately needed.

The 23-year-old right-arm seamer, picked up by LSG at his base price of ₹30 lakh in the IPL 2025 auction, has emerged as the most consistent and adaptable bowler in the LSG attack this season. In a pace unit that boasts internationals like Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan, Prince has done the unthinkable — out-bowled them all, on most nights.

The Versatility That Sets Him Apart

What makes Prince Yadav different is not raw pace. It is not a single signature delivery. It is the variety in his armoury and the willingness to use the right ball at the right time. In a season where many bowlers have been one-trick weapons, Prince has shown he can do almost everything — and do it under pressure.

• Powerplay strikes: He gets early breakthroughs by combining swing with sharp seam movement, and his ability to nip the ball into right-handers from a slightly-back-of-a-length spot has produced multiple top-order wickets this season.
• Middle-overs control: Unlike most pacers his age, Prince does not leak runs through the middle phase. His back-of-the-hand variations and changes in pace have kept set batters honest.
• Death-overs yorkers: His most polished weapon. The ability to nail full, fast yorkers ball after ball — a skill increasingly rare in modern T20 — has bailed LSG out of multiple high-scoring chases.
• Slower bouncers: The variation he has worked hardest on adding this year. It has taken multiple wickets and has become a go-to ball when batters are looking to attack short-pitched offerings.

The Coaching Conversation That Reset His Season

Earlier in the campaign, Prince had a forgettable game against Gujarat Titans. Tasked with bowling at the death, he pulled his length back instead of going for the yorker, and Washington Sundar punished him with a six over deep midwicket. The over leaked 14 runs and effectively gave GT the game.

That night, his long-time coach Amit Vashisht, who has worked with him since his early days at the Sporting Club in Najafgarh, gave him a call. The conversation, by most accounts, was simple but firm. Vashisht reminded Prince that his strength was the yorker, that the death overs were exactly where the yorker belonged, and that backing his strength was non-negotiable. The message landed.

A week later, Prince bowled the final over of an innings against Punjab Kings — a side that finished on 254 — and conceded just five runs while picking up a wicket. His final figures of 4-0-25-2 in that match told a story of a young bowler who had returned to first principles. Trust the yorker. Bowl it again. Then bowl it once more.

Last Night Against RCB: The Kohli Wicket

Thursday night's encounter with Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Ekana Stadium was a microcosm of everything Prince Yadav has become this season. After Mohammed Shami struck early to dismiss Jacob Bethell, Prince took the new ball and went for the very top of the RCB tree — Virat Kohli.

The delivery was a textbook in-swinging length ball, full enough to bring the front pad and the bat into play, and angling in just enough to clip the off stump. Kohli, who has battled inconsistency this season, had no answer. He walked back for a duck. The roar from the Ekana crowd was the loudest of the night.

Later in the match, Prince also picked up the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal, finishing with figures that played a major role in LSG's 9-run win — a result that finally ended their six-match losing streak. It was a reminder that even in a struggling team, individual brilliance can shape moments. And Prince has been doing it all season.

From Tennis-Ball Cricket to the IPL

The Prince Yadav backstory makes his rise even more remarkable. He started out as a tennis-ball cricketer in Najafgarh — a format where flat lengths, low arms, and pace variations are king, but where the technical demands of professional red-ball or proper white-ball cricket are nowhere near as evolved.

His first proper season in top-flight Indian cricket gave him a rude awakening. Lengths that worked in tennis-ball games sat up nicely for first-class batters. The action that flummoxed school-level batters was easily picked by IPL openers. Coach Amit Vashisht, who had been with him since the early days at the Sporting Club, got down to fundamentals — gradually adding variations, refining his action, and making sure his strengths translated to the harder, faster reality of professional cricket.

His domestic numbers steadily improved. He was Delhi's highest wicket-taker in both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2024. A hat-trick in the Delhi Premier League — playing under Rishabh Pant for Purani Delhi 6 — caught the eye of LSG's scouts, and the franchise snapped him up at his base price.

The IPL 2025 Reality Check

Last season was rough. Prince played six games for LSG in IPL 2025 and managed just three wickets, with an economy of 9.85 and an average of 75. His memorable moment was the dismissal of Travis Head in just his second IPL game — a delivery that announced his arrival, but also a wicket that masked the tougher nights that followed.

LSG, however, saw something in him. They retained him for IPL 2026 despite the modest first-season returns, and that decision has paid off handsomely. Prince has been their most consistent wicket-taking option, and statistics across the season place him among the most economical bowlers in the league at the death overs.

What's Going Right This Season

Several specific changes have transformed Prince's game in IPL 2026:

• Better release point: A higher, more consistent release point has helped him generate steeper bounce on flat pitches.
• Yorker accuracy: Hours of training-ground practice — using cones, single stumps, and target-bowling drills — have made his yorker repeatable under pressure.
• Mental clarity: The post-GT conversation seems to have unlocked something. He no longer second-guesses his strengths in match situations.
• Fitness and recovery: Backing up 4-over spells across short turnarounds has been a quiet success story for someone bowling at high intensity.

The Bigger Picture for LSG

Lucknow's IPL 2026 has been everything fans feared. After a promising start, the wheels came off. Six losses in a row before the RCB win on Thursday left them mathematically out of the playoff hunt. Captain Rishabh Pant's batting form has been a major concern, the fielding has been below par, and the senior bowlers have been inconsistent. There are bigger conversations that LSG management will need to have at the end of the season — about leadership, retention strategy, and squad balance.

But amid all of that, Prince Yadav has been the bright spot. The franchise's gamble on a young pacer from Najafgarh, picked at his base price, has yielded the kind of return every IPL team dreams of. He is not yet the finished article — there will be tougher nights ahead, particularly against batters who study his variations and prepare for them. But the trajectory is undeniable.

What's Next for Prince Yadav?

The remaining matches of LSG's IPL 2026 campaign will be a chance for Prince to keep building his portfolio. With each performance, he edges closer to the conversation around India's white-ball depth charts — particularly given the gap that has opened up in India's death-bowling stocks at the international level. If he can put together two or three more standout outings before the end of the season, his name will start coming up in selectorial discussions for the 2027 international assignments.

For LSG, holding on to him beyond this season feels like the smartest decision they can make. Keep developing him, keep trusting him with high-pressure overs, and keep him at the heart of the bowling unit. Because while LSG's IPL 2026 may end up being remembered as one of their forgettable campaigns, Prince Yadav's emergence in it is the kind of long-term win that can quietly shape the next era of the franchise.

The Prince has arrived. The kingdom — at least, the bowling one — looks like it might be his.