From tennis-ball cricket to India call-up: Prince Yadav's father reveals son's journey
Prince Yadav's father recalled the sacrifices and tennis-ball tournaments behind his maiden India ODI call-up. The selection capped years of struggle and marked a major step in India's pace transition.
Prince Yadav’s rise to India’s ODI squad has been one of the most emotional stories from the latest Afghanistan series announcement, and for his family, the moment felt even bigger than the IPL itself. The young pacer’s father, Ram Niwas Yadav, recalled the sacrifices, tennis-ball tournaments and years of struggle that eventually led to his son finally receiving the India call he had dreamed about since childhood.
Prince earned his maiden ODI call-up after being named in India’s squad for the upcoming three-match series against Afghanistan beginning June 14. The Lucknow Super Giants pacer has enjoyed a breakthrough IPL 2026 campaign and now finds himself rewarded with a place alongside senior bowlers like Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna.
Speaking to ANI after the squad announcement, Prince’s father admitted the entire family and community celebrated the selection emotionally.
“The whole community gathered. We also visited the temples,” Ram Niwas Yadav said.
“It was a complete surprise, even bigger than the IPL. His hard work paid off.”
His father also revealed how Prince spent most of his early cricketing years playing tennis-ball tournaments rather than formal academy cricket.
“From childhood, he wanted to play cricket, though I encouraged him to focus on studies because competition is tough,” he said.
“He played mostly with tennis balls until the age of 17-18, winning trophies from Surat, Mumbai, and often covering his own expenses.”
The sacrifices behind that journey were equally striking.
According to his father, Prince would even skip tuition classes and use that money to fund his cricket expenses and equipment instead.
“He would skip tuition, using the money for cricket gear instead,” Ram Niwas added.
“His interest shifted fully to cricket around the age of 10-11. His dream was always to wear the India jersey.”
The emotional moment finally arrived through a phone call from Prince himself.
“Yesterday he called me, saying, ‘Papa, I’ve been selected for India.’ It was a huge surprise and a moment of great joy,” he said.
Honestly, the speed of Prince Yadav’s rise over the last year almost feels unreal.
Only recently, the young Delhi pacer was making headlines after dismissing Virat Kohli for a duck in domestic cricket shortly after seeking advice from the India superstar himself.
Now he suddenly finds himself sharing a dressing room with Kohli as an India player.
HOW PRINCE YADAV EARNED HIS INDIA CALL-UP
Prince’s maiden India selection has not arrived out of nowhere.
The Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler has quietly been one of the most impressive emerging Indian seamers across white-ball cricket over the last year.
In IPL 2026, the right-arm pacer picked up 16 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 24, becoming one of LSG’s few bright spots during an otherwise disappointing season.
What stood out even more was his consistency.
Despite bowling across difficult middle and death-over phases, Prince repeatedly delivered breakthroughs and showed maturity far beyond his experience level.
His domestic performances were equally strong.
During the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Prince finished among the top wicket-takers of the tournament with 18 wickets at an average of just 19.27, further strengthening his case for national selection.
India’s selectors have also clearly started looking towards younger fast bowlers as part of their transition plans heading into the 2027 ODI World Cup cycle.
That larger context played a role in Prince’s selection too.
With Jasprit Bumrah rested following IPL 2026 workload management and Mohammed Shami still unavailable, the selectors used the Afghanistan series to test newer pace options around the core group.
Prince’s inclusion alongside Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey reflects that wider planning.
India’s ODI squad for the Afghanistan series includes:
Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey.
The ODI series against Afghanistan begins on June 14 in Dharamsala before moving to Lucknow and Chennai.
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