If fearless batting has been one of the trending moments of IPL 2026, gravity-defying catches have also shaped the outcome of several matches.
From Shreyas Iyer’s airborne stunner at the Wankhede to Glenn Phillips’ double strike which sealed Gujarat Titans’ victory against Lucknow Super Giants, fielding has evolved as a specialised high-stakes skill set.
Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes, whose name has been synonymous with fielding, isn’t surprised by the transformation and labels it as the “third discipline” after batting and bowling.
“It would be strange if fielding hadn’t evolved at all, because through T20 cricket, we’ve seen that it has become the third discipline. You know, when I started playing cricket, everyone spoke about fielding, but there weren’t a lot of teams that were focusing on that, but since the introduction of T20s, and especially the business side of cricket — franchise cricket, fielding has become the third discipline,” Jonty told The Telegraph on Thursday.
“So the evolution is not just about anybody fielding at backward point. It’s about not defending the hot spots, defending the boundary, which was something that was never really in the picture up until probably 10 years ago. So seeing what the players are doing now on the boundary is pretty exceptional... Just as the batting and bowling has evolved, so has fielding.”
Since 2025, the ICC has updated boundary relay catch rules to ban multiple airborne “bunny hop” touches outside the boundary but that hasn’t stopped such brilliant efforts. Players have made it a habit to take such catches now but Jonty isn’t amused.
“I haven’t been a fielding coach for two seasons now. But I worked for 15 out of 18 IPLs... As the fielding coach, you practise situations, situational catches. So you put a boundary out, you put the players under pressure... you don’t ask them to do that every time, because if they did that 20 times at practice, he’s probably gonna injure himself in one of those four. But you do put them under pressure.
“You put a boundary out so that when it comes in the game, they have the situational awareness... Every catch is different, you can’t simulate exactly the same, but if you simulate the environment around the boundary, they generally make the right choices,” Jonty added.
“So it doesn’t work every time. We know that. But it was just great awareness, great athletic ability, and also completing the catch without worrying about him hitting the ground. If you’re in the field and you get it slightly wrong, you can’t hurt yourself and you can injure yourself... we’ve seen within (Lungi) Ngidi. So, it’s a case of practising it without hurting the fielders.”
While not wishing to pick three outstanding catches since the T20 World Cup, he did name Glenn Phillips as a great fielder.
“Fielding-wise, Glenn Phillips really stands out. He’s got real speed. Combination of speed, agility, build and his fearlessness... But, again, there’s some great fielders in every team.”
