Over the last 12 months, Prince Yadav, the Delhi quick bowler, has made waves in Indian cricketing circles for his deceptive pace and yorkers. In the recently concluded IPL, some of his skills were on display. In that tournament, he dismissed the likes of Travis Head, Will Jacks and Nehal Wadhera with either the yorker or by bowling full and straight.
The fast bowler, who can clock speeds in excess of 140 kph, hogged the limelight in the Delhi Premier League last year, taking 13 scalps. He followed that up with noteworthy performances in the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments. Prince has also played a couple of first-class games for Delhi. In an exclusive chat with RevSportz, the paceman opened up on a variety of topics, ranging from playing tennis-ball cricket at a young age to bowling yorkers.
Excerpts:
To start with, talk us through the experience of playing in the IPL. In addition to that, how was it playing under Rishabh Pant at Lucknow Super Giants?
Prince: Whenever I needed them the most (referring to Avesh Khan, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep and Co.), they would always come to my help. They would always motivate me. In whatever situation – whether I was under pressure – when I talked to them, I used to feel good. They always tried to lift me up.
Rishabh bhaiya was such that whether I am playing or not playing matches, he used to always talk with me. (He would say) – By chance, if you were playing in that kind of a situation, then what would you have done? He used to say, you need to always be one step ahead. Whoever is batting, if you have the ball in hand, then you’re the hero. You have to deliver your best, you shouldn’t be thinking which batsman is in front of you. The best part about him is he would never say something in the short-term, he would talk as long as everything was clear, very helpful and very friendly. I liked playing under him.
What is the secret behind Prince Yadav’s ability to consistently bowl those toe-crushers? I understand you grew up playing tennis-ball cricket…
Prince: From the start, I used to play tennis-ball cricket. With the tennis ball, probably it is about hitting the shoes of the batsman. So, slowly and steadily, when I started to play with the leather ball, I understood the best things that tennis-ball cricket has given me are arm-speed and my yorker accuracy. I started practicing with the leather ball, keeping the shoes, cones. Whenever there is a (training) session, I practice my yorkers.
In modern times, the batters play a string of innovative shots. So, from a bowler’s perspective, what are the key aspects you look at while nailing the yorker? In that context, are you also working on any new skill?
Prince: In my opinion, if the yorker is executed perfectly, then it is difficult to land any shot. I don’t think what the batsman is thinking, I believe if I get the yorker right, then the batsman won’t be able to hit it. I always want to learn new things. Cricket is the kind of sport where you can’t be satisfied at any point. So, whatever that helps, (be it with my) action, or something else, I would want to learn it. Slower bouncer, slower ones, hard length – I work hard on everything.
You have now played a couple of first-class matches as well. How do you look at bowling in the two different formats – T20 cricket and Tests?
Prince: In T20 cricket, you have to also defend with the batters going after you. In first-class cricket, it is about bowling line and length and being consistent. Just keep practicing and there shouldn’t be any difficulty while playing any format.
How and when did you start playing cricket? Any fond memories from that time?
I used to go to a nearby village, would go on a bike with 3-4 of them. But at that time, I wasn’t aware that by playing leather-(ball) cricket, I could go on to become a professional. There were a couple of (local) leather-ball matches held, and I was called up. A few professional cricketers then said, you try it once, who knows something good might happen? Then I joined the sporting club under the coaching of Amit Vashishth. From there on, the journey has been good.
There was a DDCA-level league match, the opponent needed 35 runs and they had seven wickets in hand. I gave six or seven runs and took seven wickets; we won the match easily by 20 runs. I got enough confidence from that game that I can do something.
Can you say a few words about your family, and their support when it comes to your cricketing journey?
Alongside my parents, I have sisters. Both my sisters are well-educated. They used to say: you study. They would teach me. My mother and others used to scold me as well (chuckles). But I never really had that kind of interest in studies, especially when the focus started to shift over to cricket. Parents were like, ‘okay, play’. But in between, when things didn’t go well, parents then said: it can’t go on like that. Slowly, they started to say do whatever that you feel like doing. Now I feel good that I made my mother and father proud – Santosh and Ram Nivas Prasad.
The thing is a lot of kids play cricket in India. If you are defeated by such kinds of things (going through a difficult phase), then you won’t do anything in life. We don’t get what we wish for every time. I was like, if I get the opportunity I should grab it. I am thankful to Rohan Jaitley sir for providing the initiative with DPL, then I played for my state.
You also took a hat-trick in the DPL last year, alongside picking up 11 wickets in both the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare tournaments. Can you please share evocative memories from those tournaments?
I felt good after taking the hat-trick, but my team lost that match. If the hat-trick helps my team to win, then I would be happy. Winning and losing are part and parcel of the match, but the feeling of winning is different.
I only got a couple of wickets against Kerala (in the Vijay Hazare tournament). There was a good partnership, two set batsmen were playing, and I dismissed their captain, Salman Nazir. They needed 25 runs, I got two wickets, then Ishant bhaiya took one. I felt good that I took wickets when my team needed it the most and won the match for the team.
What is Prince Yadav like outside of cricket?
I like to travel with my friends. My friends are those who used to play tennis-ball cricket with me. We travel a bit, enjoy life and also talk about cricket.
Follow Revsportz for latest sports news