Team India have truly made an effort to test their bench strength in the ongoing one-day international series against Afghanistan. After handing debuts to Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey in the series opener, the management has shown faith in Prince Yadav. An exciting pacer, who did wonders at the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), received his debut India cap from Shreyas Iyer right before the 2nd ODI at his IPL home ground.
With the selectors resting regular pacers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the BCCI included rookie pacers Brar and Prince in the setup apart from the usual names in Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna. India went ahead with Brar, who made his ODI debut in Dharamsala. Now, the side chopped and changed again as they wanted to test Prince, with the preparations for the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2027 already started.
In the second ODI, Prince has replaced Prasidh Krishna. Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Kuldeep Yadav also play in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harsh Dubey.
As a matter of fact, Prince is already selected for India’s T20I side that will tour Ireland and England later this month. He is likely to make his T20I debut as well soon. Now, with him debuting against Afghanistan at home, he will have much more confidence going overseas now.
India’s Playing XI vs Afghanistan – 2nd ODI
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav
What makes Prince Yadav special?
Prince isn’t your quintessential pacer, who has developed through an academy system. He played almost entirely with tennis balls until the age of 17, which helped him develop natural back-spin, skiddy pace and awkward bounce.
His career nearly derailed in 2020 when he was banned for two years due to an age-fudging issue. Then, Prince rebuilt himself physically and technically while training under former Delhi pacer Pradeep Sangwan.
The comeback has been extraordinary and you can see the difference he brings. After impressing in the Delhi Premier League (DPL), he first grabbed major attention during the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he picked up 18 wickets in eight matches for Delhi. Then came IPL 2026, where he has emerged as one of the breakout fast bowlers of the tournament.
Even Virat Kohli lavished praise on him, talking about how focused he was during those domestic games for Delhi. His ability to hit hard lengths consistently at 140-145 kmph has stood out. Prince has also developed a reputation for bowling under pressure, especially at the death, becoming the go-to weapon for Pant at LSG.
Prince Yadav’s important stats (2025/26)
- IPL 2026 – 16 wickets in 14 games at 8.83 economy
- Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over): 18 wicktes in 8 games at 5.17 economy
- Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (20 overs): 8 wickets in 7 innings at 8.4 economy
