A father who wanted stability, a son who chased cricket

Prince Yadav’s India call-up was never part of the family’s plan. In fact, on Tuesday afternoon, his father Ram Niwas was out buying groceries when the calls began flooding in. The retired RPSF (Railway Protection Special Force ) head constable could barely process what was happening.“I never expected this to happen. Today, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing, and people are standing at my door to congratulate us. Even those who never used to visit are coming today. “I have no words. I was at the market, carrying a shopping bag, when my wife called me. Since then, I’ve only been answering phone calls – I’ll buy the groceries some other time,” Ram Niwas told TimesofIndia.com. The reason for the excitement was the biggest moment of Prince’s career. While preparing for Lucknow Super Giants’ IPL 2026 clash against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, the 18-year-old received his maiden India ODI call-up for the series against Afghanistan.For Ram Niwas, though, cricket was never supposed to become a full-time career. Like most fathers from salaried backgrounds, he wanted stability for his son and repeatedly pushed him towards government jobs.“When he was 17-18 years old, he could see nothing beyond cricket. What more does a salaried employee want than to see his child settled in life? But these days, you cannot force children too much either. So I stayed quiet. I got very angry with him at times, but he only wanted to play cricket,” he said.He made Prince apply for recruitment to the Delhi Police and for several Group D jobs. There were times when Prince failed written examinations, and even when he cleared them, he would skip interviews because his focus remained fixed on cricket.

Virat Kohli and Prince Yadav (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)

What made Prince’s rise even more unusual was how late it all started.At an age when most cricketers are already deep into structured cricket, Prince was still playing tennis-ball matches in Najafgarh, only a few kilometres away from the home of Virender Sehwag. He had already built a reputation for his yorkers in local tennis-ball circles, but there was no direction to his cricket.Then came the turning point.Coach Amit Vashishtha happened to stop near a local ground while passing on his scooter. What he saw immediately grabbed his attention: six consecutive yorkers from a young fast bowler.Vashishtha, known for working with players like Pradeep Sangwan, Mayank Dagar and Lalit Yadav, called Prince over and asked him to report to the ground the next day.“Accha khelta hai. Kal ground par aa ja, milte hain. Beta, tu 18 saal ka hai. Cricket mein aadhe logon ka career iss age tak khatam ho jaata hai. Tujhe bahut mehnat karni padegi,” Vashishtha told him.Prince arrived carrying two tennis balls in his hand. Vashishtha asked him to bowl a few deliveries and instantly realised the raw potential in front of him after watching another set of toe-crushing yorkers.The challenge was enormous. Prince had never even touched a leather ball at 18 and was competing against cricketers who had spent years inside academies and age-group systems.There were setbacks too. In 2019, he was banned for two years for age fudging.But slowly, things began to change.Prince first got the opportunity as a net bowler for Delhi before earning his place in the senior side. He made his first-class debut in 2024 and then produced a breakthrough Vijay Hazare Trophy season, taking 18 wickets in eight matches at an economy of 5.16. The performances caught the attention of many, including Virat Kohli, whom he met through Ishant Sharma.He followed it up with 11 wickets in his debut Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign, finishing as Delhi’s highest wicket-taker in the tournament.His performances in the Delhi Premier League, where he claimed 13 wickets in 10 matches, eventually earned him an IPL contract with Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 30 lakh.Prince played six matches in IPL 2025 before enjoying a strong 2026 season with 16 wickets in 13 games. One of the standout moments came when he dismissed Virat Kohli for a duck with a sharp nip-backer.For Vashishtha, the India call-up felt deeply personal.Just imagine — an 18-year-old kid who had never even touched a leather ball. It was extremely difficult. At that age, most cricketers have already played half their cricket, but this kid worked incredibly hard. We worked on his stamina, bowling, training and many other aspects of the game,” he told Timesofindia.com.“Maine iski yorker deliveries se batters ke pairon ke naakhunon se khoon nikalte dekha hai,” he added.“Main aaj bahut emotional hoon. Pradeep Sangwan India material tha. Woh 50-Test player ho sakta tha, lekin cheezein uske favour mein nahi gayin. Aaj main bahut khush hoon, apne emotions control nahi kar paa raha. Mera bahut bada sapna meri aankhon ke saamne poora hua hai [I am really emotional today. Pradeep Sangwan was India material. He could have been a 50-Test player, but things did not go his way. Today, I am truly happy and unable to control my emotions. A very big dream of mine has come true before I die],” said Vashishtha.