Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes praised Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer for his exceptional fielding effort. The 31-year-old pulled off a brilliant relay catch near the boundary ropes to dismiss the Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper hardik pandyaEarning praise for his awareness and athleticism.
Punjab Kings defeated Mumbai Indians at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, April 16. During the 18th over of the first innings, PBKS fast bowler Marco Jansson bowled a slower ball. The MI skipper hit it down the leg and Shreyas completed a brilliant relay catch near the boundary.
Makes me feel like a fielding grandfather – Jonty Rhodes praises Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer Showed excellent athleticism by leaping into the air and throwing the ball to teammate Xavier Bartlett before crossing the line. Mumbai Indians players Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav watched from the dugout, impressed by the effort to save a certain six.
Taking to social media platform X, Jonty Rhodes praised the rising fielding standards in modern cricket. He said such efforts by current players show that the game has evolved and is setting new standards.
“Seeing @ShreyasIyer15 perform some acrobatic fielding to help the team take catches made me appreciate how fielding has evolved since my retirement. For a long time, I felt like the “Father of Fielding”, but seeing these modern athletes with their timing and awareness at the boundary line, makes me feel like the “Father of Fielding”!” Jonty Rhodes said.
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I spent 99% of my career fielding in the inner circle – Jonty Rhodes
jonty rhodes He also talked about his playing career, saying that his fielding role was mainly inside the circle. He pointed out that boundary fielding became more important later, especially after the stellar efforts of players like Kieron Pollard and Glenn Maxwell.
“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 modern “hotspots” on the boundaries. It was only when I started working with @mipaltan and saw Kieron Pollard and then Glenn Maxwell make incredible “airborne saves” on the boundaries that we started to focus not only on taking catches on balls that were first He was beyond the rope, but also kept the ball from going for a sixer, and forcing the batsmen to score only 1 or 2 runs,” he added.
“With impact players changing the way that batsmen can consistently attack the bowling, even at the loss of 4-5 wickets, bowlers need to be supported by their fielders, and Shreyas’ brilliant “catch and release” was a perfect example of this. But let’s face it; when your head coach is @RickyPonting, one of the greatest fielders the game has ever seen, it should be no big surprise to see such incredible feats in the field!” Jonty Rhodes concluded.
Watching @shreyasiyar15 That acrobatic fielding display to help take the “team catch” made me appreciate how fielding has evolved since my retirement. For a long time, I felt like I was the “Father of Fielding,” but these modern athletes have been recognized for their timing and…
– Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) 18 April 2026
Punjab Kings beat Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in IPL 2026
Mumbai Indians played without Rohit Sharma due to a hamstring injury and brought in Quinton de Kock. He scored unbeaten 112 runs in 60 balls, while Naman Dheer added 50 runs in 31 balls. The pair put on a 122-run partnership for the third wicket, helping MI post 195/6 in 20 overs, with Arshdeep Singh taking 3 for 22.
Punjab Kings easily chased the target in 16.3 overs. Prabhsimran Singh played an unbeaten inning of 80 runs in 39 balls and captain Shreyas Iyer scored 66 runs in 35 balls. Allah Ghazanfar took two wickets for Mumbai Indians.
