South Africa great Jonty Rhodes has seen fielding evolve from instinct to innovation, from sharp reflexes in the ring to choreographed brilliance at the boundary. And yet, even he found himself in awe.

During Punjab Kings’ IPL 2026 clash against Mumbai Indians, PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer produced a moment that felt both modern and inevitable. In the 18th over, with MI captain Hardik Pandya looking to launch Marco Jansen into the stands, the ball soared towards long-on.

Iyer sprinted across, judged the trajectory, and completed a juggling act at the rope, catching the ball, tossing it back mid-air as he lost balance, and relaying it to Xavier Bartlett to complete a “team catch”.

Watching it unfold, Rhodes could not help but reflect. “Watching Shreyas Iyer perform that acrobatic fielding to assist in taking the ‘team catch’ made me appreciate how fielding has evolved since my retirement,” he wrote on X. For a man long dubbed the gold standard, the shift is personal.

“For a long time, I felt like the ‘father of fielding’… but watching these modern athletes… makes me feel like the ‘grandfather of fielding’.”

Rhodes’ own career was defined by inner-circle brilliance, but he admits the boundary was once an afterthought. “There was no focus on the modern day ‘hotspots’ on the boundaries,” he said, before tracing the change to his coaching days with Mumbai Indians. Encounters with players like Kieron Pollard and Glenn Maxwell reshaped the approach, introducing the now-familiar art of airborne saves and relay catches.

In an era of relentless hitting and Impact Players, Rhodes sees fielding as cricket’s last line of resistance.

Iyer’s effort, he believes, was not just spectacular but necessary. And perhaps, fittingly, it came under the watch of Ricky Ponting, “one of the greatest fielders in the game.”

Published on Apr 18, 2026