PrinceYadav: the yorker-specialist looking to rule the big stage

The year was 2018. Amit Vashisht, a coach who has been running the Sporting Cricket Club for nearly two decades, happened to be watching a game of tennis-ball cricket in his neighbourhood in Najafgarh — a modest town on the outskirts of Delhi that gained prominence on the cricketing map when Virender Sehwag emerged on the scene.

As the contest unfolded, Vashisht’s eyes fell on a skinny youngster who was hurling in yorkers at brisk pace. The run-up to the crease was rhythmical, the arm-speed quick, and the bowling action smooth. Vashisht instantly felt the urge to take the lad under his wings at his academy. That was Prince Yadav, the Lucknow Super Giants quick who has been making strides in the IPL over the past year. In his debut campaign in 2025, the pacer from Delhi provided a teaser over six games without the numbers corroborating his capability — he snared only three breakthroughs at an economy rate of 9.85. This year, the promise has been substantiated by performance, with Prince scalping 13 wickets in eight outings at an economy rate of 8.06 so far. If there is one game that embodies his excellence, it is the duel against the red-hot Punjab Kings in New Chandigarh on April 19, where his figures of 4-0-25-2 were at odds with the shellacking that the other bowlers received as Shreyas Iyer and Co. hammered a humongous total of 254 for seven.