Who is Prince Yadav? Delhi pacer makes India ODI debut against Afghanistan after impressive IPL 2026

A young fast bowler has earned his maiden India cap as the hosts made multiple changes for the second ODI against Afghanistan in Lucknow. With the series on the line for the visitors, both teams headed into the contest looking to address shortcomings from the opening game and gain an important advantage.

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field first at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, believing the surface could offer assistance to the bowlers early in the match.

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Afghanistan opt to bowl after winning toss

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had little hesitation in choosing to bowl first after assessing the conditions in Lucknow.

“We want to bowl first. Wicket looks fresh. I think it’ll be spinning in the first innings. In the last game, we played really well, we missed the partnerships. We had one partnership and then threw away our wickets. Hopefully we come back stronger. Our boys have a lot of passion of cricket,” he said during the toss presentations.

The visitors fought hard in the opening ODI but failed to build enough partnerships after getting starts. Afghanistan will now be hoping for a much-improved batting effort to level the series.

India hand debut to Prince Yadav

India captain Shubman Gill revealed that his side would have preferred to bowl first as well, but remained confident about adapting to the conditions.

“We would have bowled first as well. It’s all about being in difficult situations and getting that experience. Three changes. Prince makes his debut. We’ve got Kuldeep and Jaiswal in,” Gill said.

The biggest talking point from India’s team selection was the debut of right-arm pacer Prince Yadav. He became the third debutant of the series after Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar were handed their first ODI caps in the opening match.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal also returned to the playing XI as India looked to seal the three-match series.

Who is Prince Yadav?

Prince Yadav has emerged as one of the promising young fast bowlers in domestic cricket over the past two seasons.

The Delhi pacer first hit the spotlight after being bought by the Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 30 lakh ahead of IPL 2025. He played six games in his debut season before a breakthrough season in IPL 2026.

The right-arm quick claimed 16 wickets in 14 matches and impressed with his ability to bowl at crucial stages of the innings.

So far in his domestic career, Prince has played two First-Class matches, 14 List-A games and 35 T20s, picking up 1, 29 and 38 wickets respectively.

India look to seal series

India enter the second ODI with confidence after securing a seven-wicket victory in the rain-shortened opening encounter.

Afghanistan were bowled out for 194 in 24.5 overs, with debutants Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey claiming three wickets each. India then chased down the revised target comfortably to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Another victory in Lucknow would hand India the series, while Afghanistan must win to keep their hopes alive heading into the final ODI.

Playing XIs

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Darwish Rasooli, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharoti, AM Ghazanfar, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Bilal Sami.