Prince Yadav gets career's biggest gift days after outfoxing Virat Kohli; Sanjiv Goenka reacts ‘just the beginning’
Lucknow Super Giants pacer Prince Yadav has received a maiden India call-up against Afghanistan. The right-arm fast bowler has been named India's squad for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, starting in June.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) might have been eliminated from the playoffs race in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but on Tuesday a wave of positivity and happiness blew across the franchise after fast bowler Prince Yadav received a maiden Indian national team call-up. Prince was among the four new faces the BCCI named for the home series against Afghanistan.
At a time when the team failed collectively, the Delhi pacer remained constant as the top of the list for most wickets among LSG bowlers in IPL 2026. In fact Prince's India call-up came in less than two weeks after he cleaned up Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Virat Kohli with a peach of a delivery for a duck. Even Kohli looked stunned after the wicket.
Prince has been picked in the India's ODI squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan, starting June 14. Soon after the BCCI announced the Indian squads for the one-off Test and ODI series against Afghanistan, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka took to X to heap a praise on the 29-year-old.
“Delighted to see Prince Yadav earn his maiden ODI call-up for India. His rise this IPL season has been a joy to witness. He has the heart, the hunger, and the fearlessness to take on the best. This is just the beginning. Congratulations, Prince. I’m proud of you, and so is @LucknowIPL. Make India proud,” wrote Goenka.
Prince Yadav's performances in recent times
With 16 wickets from 13 games, Prince is currently placed sixth in the IPL 2026 Purple Cap table. LSG has two more matches to go in the league stages of IPL 2026 and Prince would like to make most of it before joining the Indian camp. Apart from IPL, Prince has impressed domestically too.
In the 2025–26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Prince was among the top five wicket-takers with 18 scalps, thus earning a reputation as a reliable wicket-taking option. Safe to say, the unavailability of pacers Jasprit Bumrah (workload management) and Harshit Rana (injured) also played a part in Prince's selection. Even Mohammed Siraj wasn't also considered in ODIs.
India's ODI squad vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey
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