Play Beyond Stake
Play Beyond Stake
Prince Yadav Gets His India Cap From Shreyas Iyer: The LSG Pacer's Surprise Debut
As a hands-on cricket expert, I have watched plenty of debut caps get handed over the years, and the one in Lucknow on Wednesday caught me off guard. Prince Yadav walked out at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, took his India ODI cap, and the man giving it to him was Shreyas Iyer. Not the captain. Not an old coach. Iyer himself. At the Khelstake sports desk, we expected Shubman Gill to do the honours, so the moment made us sit up.
Here is what happened, why it matters, and who Prince Yadav is, listed down in detail, for the sports fans following the India vs Afghanistan series without tracking every team-sheet detail.
A debut nobody saw coming at Ekana
India came into the second ODI 1-0 up after winning the opener in Dharamsala. With the series in their pocket, the team used the Lucknow game to test fresh players. Three changes went in. Kuldeep Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal returned to the side, and Prince Yadav got his first India cap.
The reshuffle had a forced element too. Nitish Kumar Reddy sat out with a quad problem. Gill did not give much detail on the injury, but the gap opened a spot, and Prince stepped in. He became the third Indian to debut in this single series, after Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar picked up their caps in the first ODI. For a young pacer, getting the nod on home soil in Lucknow added a nice layer to the day.
Why Shreyas Iyer handed the cap, and not Shubman Gill
This is the bit people keep asking the Khelstake team about. A debut cap usually comes from the captain, a former great, or a senior who has shared a dressing room with the newcomer.
In the first ODI match, Gill gifted his cap to Gurnoor Brar, and it seemed like a good choice as both of them had played in the same teams during domestic and IPL cricket matches.
Prince Yadav has no such history with Iyer. They have not shared a state side or an IPL franchise. So the choice looked unusual from the outside. The team management gave the honour to the vice-captain, with the selection approved by Sourav Ganguly before the toss.
We feel like this is a really good gesture from him as a senior player to welcome the young bowler. FYI, Prince is the 263rd player to represent the Indian cricket team in the ODI tournament.
Who is Prince Yadav
If you have not followed the domestic grind, here is the short version from the Khelstake cricket experts.
- He is from UP and has experienced the pitch of the Ekana Stadium.
- LSG acquired him in the 2025 IPL auction for 30 lakhs. This success came to him as he performed well in the Delhi Premier League.
- He made a good impression among the fans and other senior cricketers in the IP, 2026.
- He took 16 wickets in 14 matches with an economy under nine and won LSG several games with the ball.
His road was not smooth. He served a ban earlier in his career over an age-eligibility issue, then rebuilt his game through Delhi’s domestic circuit.
What stands out to me is his control of pace. He changes speed with almost no change in his action, so batters struggle to read the slower ball.
The Khelstake cricket experts team rates this control above raw speed, and selectors clearly saw the same value when they backed him for the white-ball step up.
His bowling in plain terms
Stats are secondary when we talk about his bowling because you can visually feel the aura. He runs in hard, hits a heavy length, and hides the slower ball well. He is a fantastic bowler who looks the same every delivery but keeps shifting the speed.
The batter commits early and gets it wrong. His edge sits right there. On the Khelstake watchlist, the slower ball is the delivery to track when he runs in.
Sanju Samson’s explosive batting in the T20 World Cup 2026 showcased how a single player’s fearless approach can shift momentum instantly, proving once again that in the shortest format, one dynamic innings can redefine the course of a tournament.
How the rest of the India XI shifted
Prince was not the only talking point. These three changes meant that the entire lineup had to be altered.
- Jaiswal was partnered with Rohit Sharma at the top of the order.
- Gill went down to bat at three.
- Kishan kept wickets while batting at four.
- Shreyas Iyer followed him at number five.
- KL Rahul came next at number six.
- Kuldeep Yadav returned to strengthen the spin attack.
- Gill explained the thinking at the toss.
India went in with five bowlers, so the batting had to stretch deeper. He said the side wanted hard situations on purpose, both chasing big totals and defending small ones, to see how clinical they stay with the ball under pressure. The logic here seems ok. With the series won, you build habits for the tougher days ahead.
The Lucknow conditions
The pitch looked good for batting early, though a few patches seemed uneven. Heat was the big factor. Temperatures sat above 40 degrees, so the surface looked set to dry out and crack as the game wore on.
As we see the conditions, the spinners held the edge in the back half, which made Kuldeep’s return well-timed.
What this debut means
For Prince Yadav, the cap rewards one strong IPL season and years of quiet domestic work. For India, it fits a clear pattern. With Bumrah and Siraj rested, the selectors used a home series against Afghanistan to widen the pace pool.
Three debutants in three matches tells you the team is planning well past today. At the Khelstake sports desk, we see this as groundwork for the bigger tournaments ahead, and Prince now has his foot in the door.
He carries his cap home to Lucknow. Not many debuts come with this kind of backdrop.
