Prince Yadav named in India's ODI squad vs Afghanistan — Sanjiv Goenka says 'Joy to Witness' as LSG pacer gets maiden call-up

The BCCI selection committee has named its squads for the India vs Afghanistan ODI and Test series scheduled in June, and the announcement has turned plenty of heads. Several fresh faces from IPL 2026 have earned maiden call-ups, with Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, and Harsh Dubey among the exciting new names to break into the national setup for the first time.

One of the standout selections is LSG pacer Prince Yadav, who has earned his maiden call-up to the Indian ODI squad for the Afghanistan series. Yadav has been in outstanding form in domestic cricket and carried that momentum into IPL 2026, putting up consistent performances for Lucknow Super Giants. LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka was quick to congratulate his player, taking to social media to express his pride with a simple but heartfelt message — "Joy to witness."

For those who have followed Prince Yadav closely, this call-up comes as no surprise. The young pacer has been knocking on the door of the national team for a while now, and the selectors have finally taken notice. With India keen to build a stronger pace bowling unit ahead of a packed international calendar, this is the perfect opportunity for Yadav to step up and prove he belongs at the highest level.

Who is Prince Yadav? The RPSG-backed cricketer who just earned his first India ODI call-up

Prince Yadav comes from a village near Najafgarh in Delhi, where he spent his early years playing tennis-ball cricket tournaments. Interestingly, he did not bowl with a leather cricket ball until the age of 17. However, his tennis-ball background helped him develop impressive arm speed and deadly yorkers, which later became his biggest strength as a fast bowler.

His journey was not without challenges. In December 2019, the BCCI handed him a two-season ban for age fudging. While the documents he submitted mentioned his birthdate as December 12, 2001, educational records reportedly showed his actual date of birth as June 10, 1996. Despite this setback, Prince worked hard to rebuild his career and continued to improve his game.

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Across the 2025 and 2026 IPL seasons, Prince picked up 19 wickets in his first 18 matches. He impressed with his raw pace, accurate lengths, and excellent yorkers, regularly troubling batters even on batting-friendly pitches. One of his most talked-about moments came when he dismissed Virat Kohli after following the former India captain’s advice on bowling lengths. That delivery alone showed why many believe Prince Yadav is a special talent. His maiden India ODI call-up is now the reward for years of hard work, setbacks, and persistence.

Sanjiv Goenka reacts to Prince Yadav's historic Selection — what he said and why it matters

Prince Yadav was retained by Lucknow Super Giants for just Rs 30 lakh ahead of IPL 2026 — a price tag that now looks like one of the smartest decisions of the auction. The young pacer has gone on to become LSG's leading wicket-taker this season with 16 wickets, consistently delivering under pressure for Rishabh Pant's side.

LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka did not hold back his emotions when the squad was announced. Taking to X, Goenka posted a heartfelt congratulatory message for his franchise's standout performer.

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"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," Goenka wrote.

The words carry weight beyond just a franchise owner celebrating a player's success. With Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, and Harshit Rana all unavailable due to workload management and injuries, India's pace bowling unit needed fresh reinforcements. Prince Yadav stepped into that window at exactly the right moment — and made sure the selectors could not look away.

From Rs 30 Lakh retention to India's ODI squad — Prince Yadav's journey is just getting started 

Nobody gave Rs 30 lakh much thought when Lucknow Super Giants quietly retained Prince Yadav ahead of IPL 2026. But the numbers he has put up since then tell a story that was impossible to ignore. In the 2025/26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Prince bagged 18 wickets in eight matches for Delhi at an average of 19.27, finishing as the side's leading wicket-taker and the fifth-highest wicket-taker overall in the entire 50-over competition. He then carried that form straight into IPL 2026, picking up 16 scalps for Lucknow Super Giants and cementing his place as one of the most consistent pace options in the country right now.

See also -BCCI Announces 15-Member India Squad for ODI and Test Series vs Afghanistan — Prince Yadav and Devdutt Padikkal get the call

What makes Prince Yadav's rise even more remarkable is how quietly it happened. There were no big headlines, no viral moments — just wicket after wicket, match after match. He did the hard work in domestic cricket when nobody was watching, and then did it again on the biggest IPL stage when everyone was. That kind of consistency is exactly what Indian selectors look for when building a pace unit for the future.

With the Afghanistan ODI series now on the horizon, Prince Yadav walks in not as a lucky beneficiary of senior absentees but as a bowler who has genuinely earned his place. The Rs 30 lakh retention that once raised eyebrows now looks like the beginning of a much bigger story — and for Prince Yadav, this India call-up feels less like an arrival and more like a launchpad.