Shreyas Iyer’s gravity-defying 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, according to the Hindustan Times.
Jonty Rhodes with his words of appreciation
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 came up with a line that perfectly set the tone for the post. “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 now makes me feel like the ‘grandfather of fielding’!”
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Rhodes also linked Iyer’s effort to the evolving demands of the modern T20 game. “With impact players changing how batters keep attacking even after losing 4-5 wickets, bowlers need strong support in the field. Shreyas’ stunning ‘catch and release’ was a perfect example of that.”
Watching @ShreyasIyer15 perform that acrobatic fielding to assist in taking the team catch made me appreciate how fielding has evolved since my retirement. For a long time, I felt like the father of fielding, but watching these modern athletes with their timing and
— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) April 18, 2026
T20 fielding is a specialist craft
It wasn’t merely a playful remark but also reflected the shift Rhodes believes T20 cricket has brought to fielding. During his playing days, he built his reputation inside the ring, where speed, anticipation and sharp direct hits often turned matches. But in today’s white-ball game, especially in T20S, boundary fielding has evolved into a specialised skill of its own.
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“I spent 99% of my career fielding in the inner circle, and when I started working as a fielding coach, there was no real focus on the modern-day ‘hotspots’ along the boundary,” Rhodes wrote.
He went on to explain how that perspective changed during his coaching stint. “It was only when I began working with @mipaltan and saw Kieron Pollard, and later Glenn Maxwell, pulling off those incredible ‘airborne saves’ near the ropes that the focus shifted. It became about not just taking catches that seemed destined to clear the boundary, but also preventing sixes and restricting batters to just one or two runs.”
