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Prince Yadav takes a brilliant catch in his debut match for Team India in the ODIs tonight against Afghanistan. He covered a good amount of ground before throwing his body in the air to take a diving catch to dismiss the Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran.
On the first ball of the 14th over of the second innings, pacer Arshdeep Singh hit the deck hard for a short length delivery. The Afghan batter was in a position to play a pull shot, but he went for it and miscued it as well.
Prince Yadav made a lot of effort before grabbing the ball clean
The ball went high into the air and was about to drop into no man's land. Prince Yadav, a Lucknow Super Giants pacer, who has played a lot of cricket at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, was posted at the deep backward square leg.
From there, he started his run and took the catch at mid-wicket. Ibrahim Zadran went for 21 off 31; Afghanistan lost their second wicket while chasing India's first innings total of 402.
Watch the stunning catch here:
PRINCE YADAV WITH A TERRIFIC CATCH ON DEBUT. pic.twitter.com/u0Q4uQUmSb
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 17, 2026
For the match in Lucknow, both of the teams have made multiple changes, precisely three changes on each side. Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bowl first on the fresh track on the ground.
Multiple changes in the Indian playing XI for the 2nd ODI vs Afghanistan
Prince Yadav, the Lucknow Super Giants, who impressed with his wicket-taking abilities and improved bowling skills in the IPL 2026 season, joined the Indian playing eleven as an injury replacement. Vice-captain Shreyas Iyer handed the debut cap to Prince before the toss.
Harsh Dubey, Prasidh Krishna, and Nitish Kumar Reddy were the players who had to be dropped from the playing combination. While Dubey is a spinner, Krishna and Reddy are both fast bowlers. At the toss, India captain Shubman Gill informed Reddy missed the match because of a fresh injury concern.
An eventful career of the pacer
The emergence of Prince Yadav is quite eventful. At a point in his career, he was doubtful about his future because of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) stance. In 2019, the Delhi-born was banned by the BCCI for two years after being found guilty of age-fudging in Under-19 cricket. The suspension ruled him out of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 domestic seasons.
In this period of two years, Yadav put all of his focus on improving his bowling. IPL 2026 proved to be his breakthrough year after making headlines in the local league. The promising bowling figures in the local leagues helped him to earn an IPL contract. In the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League, 16 wickets in 14 matches. With his skillful pace bowling, Prince Yadav dismissed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) legend Virat Kohli as well.
He first joined the Lucknow Super Giants as their net bowler, later, he was offered him full time contarct ahead of the 2025 season.
