Shreyas Iyer's gravity-defying catch gets ultimate stamp of approval from ‘grandfather of fielding’ Jonty Rhodes

Shreyas Iyer's boundary effort against MI has sparked significant praise, with Jonty Rhodes highlighting the evolution of fielding standards in T20 cricket.

Shreyas Iyer’s spectacular boundary effort against the Mumbai Indians has now earned the kind of praise that instantly lifts a fielding moment into a bigger cricket conversation. Jonty Rhodes, a name still synonymous with elite fielding, watched the Punjab Kings captain’s acrobatic intervention and used it to make a wider point about how the sport has changed.

Shreyas Iyer attempts a catch of Hardik Pandya. (PTI)

The moment came during Punjab Kings’ win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, when Iyer’s relay work near the boundary helped complete Hardik Pandya’s dismissal. It was already one of the most talked-about fielding moments of the IPL 2026 season. Rhodes’ reaction gave it even more weight, because this was not just admiration. It was recognition from a man who helped define fielding standards for an earlier generation.

Jonty Rhodes says modern fielding has gone beyond his era

Taking to X, Jonty Rhodes wrote: “Watching @ShreyasIyer15 perform that acrobatic fielding to assist in taking the ‘team catch’ made me appreciate how fielding has evolved since my retirement.”

He then delivered the line that gave the post its hook and tone. “For a long time, I felt like the ‘father of fielding’, but watching these modern athletes with their timing and awareness on the boundary line, makes me feel like the ‘grandfather of fielding’!”

That was not just a playful remark. It also framed the shift Rhodes believes T20 cricket has forced on fielding. During his own career, he built his reputation largely inside the ring, where speed, anticipation and direct hits could change matches. But the modern white-ball game, especially in T20s, has pushed boundary fielding into a specialist craft of its own.

“I spent 99% of my career fielding in the inner circle, and when I started working as a fielding coach, there was no focus on the modern day ‘hotspots’ on the boundaries,” Rhodes wrote.

He then explained how that thinking changed during his time as a fielding coach. “It was only when I started working with @mipaltan and saw Kieron Pollard, and then Glenn Maxwell, performing these incredible ‘airborne saves’ on the boundaries that we started focusing on not only taking catches off balls that were already beyond the rope, but even saving the ball from going for a sixer, and forcing the batters to run only 1 or 2.”

Rhodes also connected Iyer’s effort to the demands of the current T20 game. “With impact players transforming the way that batters can continuously attack the bowling, even with the loss of 4-5 wickets, bowlers need to be backed up by their fielders, and Shreyas’ spectacular ‘catch and release’ was a perfect example of that.”

He signed off with one more nod, this time to Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting. “But let’s face it; when your head coach is @RickyPonting, one of the greatest fielders in the game, it should not come as a great surprise to see such incredible feats in the field!”