Prince Yadav is having a breakout season at IPL 2026. And on Thursday night in Lucknow, he might’ve bowled the “ball of the tournament.” Fast and accurate on a good length on the fifth stump, Virat Kohli shaped to defend, but the ball nipped back and long way and hit the top of off stump. Can’t do much better than that. And can’t do much about it.
“I don’t think any batsman in the world can play that,” Ambati Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. And Katey Martin, clearly impressed with what she had watched, said, “You [have to] see that as the ball of the tournament. Not just because of the way he was able to swing late as well, back into the stumps, top of off, [but] effectively, [that was] your perfect delivery and maybe something that Prince Yadav dreams of. Of that particular delivery, especially to Virat Kohli, who we thought was going to be a really key factor in that chase as well.”
At the press conference in Lucknow, Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain was equally impressed: “I have seen him from the start. He has a lot of variations. He has pace. He has swing. He is a proper fast bowler.”
Patidar said Prince’s spell with the new ball was a game-changing one.
“One of his qualities is that he trusts his skills,” Patidar said. “That is commendable. I have seen him for a long time. He has given his team [an important early] breakthrough – he is an expert in that. Spot on! I have never seen him give a lot of runs. I think it was a game-changing spell.”
The start offered by Prince in the chase was important since Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had put up 209 for 3 in a 19-overs-a-side game. With the target not massive, Kohli would have been expected to helm the chase. But those two balls were all he lasted. And RCB, though they got close, fell short by nine runs.
Prince, who finished with 3 for 33, played it down when he spoke at the press conference: “I felt good after the [Kohli] wicket. But I am most happy that we won the match. If I had taken the wicket and we had lost, it wouldn’t have been so [good].”
Prince also moved to 16 wickets for the season, just one off the Purple Cap table-toppers.
“I think he is going to make his [international] debut soon,” Rayudu said. “That guy is a special talent, Prince. The way he runs in – his run-up itself tells you that he is in there for a fight. He bowls a heavy ball and most of his deliveries are hitting the stumps. That’s his speciality.
“That ball [to get Kohli] was very, very special. The seam stayed up. This is a huge wicket. It’s Virat Kohli. Prince Yadav, who too comes from Delhi, plays for Delhi, gets his Delhi team-mate.”
It has been a stellar breakout season for Prince. He has not taken a wicket in only two of his outings and has an impressive economy rate of 8.08. Of bowlers to have sent down at least 30 overs this season, only three others – Sunil Narine (6.80), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (7.64) and Mohammed Siraj (8.00) – have better economies, and of them, only Bhuvneshwar has more wickets (17) than Prince.
A lot of Prince’s potency comes from his fitness. The skills, honed initially in tennis-ball cricket, has also helped the 24-year-old leapfrog into the big leagues after being a late-bloomer.
Martin talked up Prince’s “arm speed through the crease and just the way that he’s able to get that energy and have such an incredible seam up position”, and Rayudu was left wishing he could stand in the slips to Prince operating in full flow.
“I think he’ll be a treat to stand [to] in the slips. Seriously, to watch this guy bowl – unbelievable,” he said. “It’ll be a total pleasure to stand in first or second slip to him. He is a potential 50-over bowler as well. I think he’s an all-format bowler, the way he’s looking right now.
“Also, because he’s so fit, he’s so agile, and his action is so clean; he has that consistency which most of the bowlers don’t have. A lot of bowlers bowl one or two good balls in an over. This guy bowls about four to five. That’s his strength, I feel.”
Martin summed it up nicely: “He’s got all the variations we saw in the backend – the slower deliveries as well. I just love his alignment, so beautiful through the crease. We’re here sitting talking about a fast bowler. I think it’s probably Ian Bishop’s position: if you’re facing him, you feel like he was getting on a lot quicker [than expected] because he’s got that skiddiness. But he can swing the ball and seam the ball as well. You feel like [either] edge is a threat.”
