Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler Prince Yadav was roped in by the franchise for INR 30 lakhs in the IPL 2025 auction. Yadav recalled that he was playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Delhi at that time and a friend of his told him that he had been picked by LSG in the auction.
However, there was a slight confusion as the broadcast team mistakenly showed the photo of a player with the same name, Prince Yadav, who plays for Uttar Pradesh. Yadav revealed he got a call from the team management, and the confusion was clarified.
Prince Yadav said on Aakash Chopra’s podcast, “The SMAT was going on, and I was in Mumbai. The auction was going on, but I was not watching it. My friends and others were watching. Some other team was playing SMAT, and I was watching that match instead. My friend came and told me that LSG picked me. I was happy. But he told me they had put someone else’s photo. There is a Prince Yadav from UP. It was his photo. So I had a doubt. I checked the serial number list, and it was mine. But I was not sure. But then I got a message and a call, and then it was clear.”
Yadav revealed that LSG’s former bowling coach Zaheer Khan told him to keep working on the sidelines.
He added, “Before being picked, I had been in that environment. I was a net bowler with LSG in the previous season. Zaheer Sir met me, and I thought I could learn a lot from there. It was like I kept finding the right people at the right time. He helped me a lot with my mindset and technique. He told me what to work on, but he also told me we would not work on those things during the season. So he told me we would keep working on the sidelines. I went to him after the IPL and spent 3-4 days with him in Mumbai. He worked with me on the new ball.”
Prince recalled when he first got his maiden India ODI call-up for the series against Afghanistan.
