Prince Yadav already had the numbers to stake a claim as the most promising quick of the ongoing IPL. With Chennai Super Kings pacer Anshul Kamboj also doing well, there was room for debate. But it looks like Prince sealed the deal on Thursday, when he dislodged Virat Kohli’s stumps with a gem of a delivery.

The Lucknow Super Giants pacer’s 140kmph missile darted in after landing to leave Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Kohli stunned. As the world knows, it’s not easy to breach the former India captain’s defence, so it was quite a scalp for Prince. It was just the second ball that Kohli was facing, and he was yet to open his account.

For the record, Kohli’s last IPL duck was a first-ball dismissal against Rajasthan Royals in April 2023.

Prince, with 3/33, played a leading role in the Giants’ 9-run victory over RCB.

Was he elated after dismissing Kohli? The 24-year-old said he was happier because his team won.

“I felt good after the (Kohli) wicket, but I am most happy that we won the match. If I had taken the wicket and we had lost, it wouldn’t have been so (good),” Prince, who missed out on the Player of the Match award to centurion Mitchell Marsh (111), said at the media conference after the game.

“Whether it’s a different way or one way, when a bowler takes a wicket, it feels good. But as I said earlier, if the situation was such that we could have won the match only if we had taken the wicket... that’s what happened and I am feeling good,” Prince added.

Interestingly, as per Prince, he just followed Kohli’s advice to outsmart Kohli. “After the last match (the RCB-LSG first-leg game), I was talking to Virat bhaiya, and he only told me, ‘as long as it’s moving around off a length, stick to that length’,” Prince had told the broadcaster during the innings break of Thursday’s match.

Some of the commentators felt that Prince’s delivery to oust Kohli could be considered as the best of the season.

Prince so far has 16 wickets in IPL 2026, the same as Kagiso Rabada of Gujarat Titans (GT) and Eshan Malinga of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Only RCB’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar (17) and CSK’s Kamboj (17) have more wickets than Prince.

Prince acknowledged having learned some tricks from his IPL teammate Mohammed Shami.

“I learned a lot from him (Shami) about the new ball. But the best thing about him is that whenever a bowler is bowling, he stands mid-on or mid-off. So, if such an experienced player is standing with you, there is a different level of confidence,” Prince said.

RCB captain Rajat Patidar also admitted that Prince’s spell was game-changing.

“We played a lot of domestic matches with Prince in Delhi. I have seen him for a long time. He has a lot of variations. He has pace. He has swing. He is a proper fast bowler. He bowled really well today, especially the slow balls that he tried. I think that was a game-changing spell,” Patidar said.

“One of his qualities is that he trusts his skills. That is commendable.”