He was a vagabond, a nomad wandering in the village, then he left a group of miscreants, his bag was full of wickets, the Yorker ‘Prince’ is completely filmy.

New Delhi. A father’s pain was that he has a spoiled son, he tried a lot to stop him from taking the wrong path. When Prince’s father says this, there is no complaint in his voice, but a father’s pride is reflected. Two years of ban, tennis ball alleys, and a base price of ₹ 30 lakh, this journey is no less than a film story.

In 2020, BCCI banned Prince Yadav for two years in U-19 cricket on charges of age discrepancy. This was the same time when a young bowler’s dream was on the verge of being shattered. The Prince himself describes this period as “very dark”, but says that the family supported him because they believed that their son could do something in cricket. During that period, former Delhi fast bowler Pradeep Sangwan came to Prince and said that he would train him. For two years the Prince quietly practiced with him and played tennis ball cricket. These tennis ball tricks later became his biggest strength.

Trail to Purple Cap

Prince honed his skills by playing tennis ball cricket in his village. He still believes that the tennis ball has sharpened his arm speed and yorker. Playing for Rishabh Pant’s team Old Delhi 6 in the Delhi Premier League in 2024, he took 13 wickets in 10 matches. This performance was so explosive that just a day before the IPL 2025 mega auction, he made his T20 debut for Delhi and took the wickets of stalwarts like Nitish Rana and Sameer Rizvi against Uttar Pradesh. The very next day, Lucknow Super Giants bought him at a base price of ₹ 30 lakh.

Travis Head’s wicket and threat

In IPL 2025, Prince took his first wicket by bowling Travis Head against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In this journey that started as a net bowler for LSG, he took 3 wickets in 6 matches in the 2025 season. The number may seem small, but this debut told the cricket world that this is a name to remember. In IPL 2026, Prince Yadav is maintaining the trend of taking at least one wicket in every six matches and is included in the list of top bowlers with 13 wickets so far. In a high-scoring encounter against Punjab Kings where a total of 454 runs were scored, Prince recorded figures of 2/25, his best performance of the tournament.

Shami Zaheer’s experience came in handy
Prince stays close to Mohammed Shami in LSG practice and learns from him after every ball. “It’s a blessing to bowl with Shami bhai. He’s always up to date with the young fast bowlers, talking about life off the field as well,” says Prince. Prince remained in constant touch with Zaheer Khan after the last IPL season, and learned the tricks of fast bowling from Ishant Sharma in the Delhi State team.

the destination is still pending

Born on 12 December 2001 in Delhi, Prince Yadav is only 24 years old. With every wicket he takes, he gets a little closer to that blue jersey whose dream flickers in his father’s eyes every day. The story that is created with the facts is more interesting than any fabricated story, a bowler who was stopped by the system, but the streets of tennis ball showed him the destination where his desire to reach would force him to work hard day and night.