Shreyas Iyer contributed to a relay catch that might be remembered as the outright best in the long history of the Indian Premier League. There are many candidates to the title, but the mixture of athleticism, awareness, and pure wow factor is what pushes it over the top.
It is ironic that Iyer doesn’t even get credit for the catch on the scoresheet. After leaping over the boundary, contorting to stay off the ground, and flinging it to Xavier Bartlett to actually complete the catch, Shreyas’ remarkable dismissal of Hardik Pandya will be remembered as one of the iconic moments of this year’s tournament.
But it wasn’t simply one of India’s best fielders pulling off a piece of magic based on instinct alone. Yes, it comes off as second nature to do special things like this, but it’s something that is generated by plenty of practice – visualisation, preparedness, and a readiness to do everything within a blink of an eye.
In a video shared to social media from a fan in the stands right behind Iyer, the Punjab Kings captain can be seen simply mapping out the distance between himself and the boundary rope, even miming throwing his hands up and timing a jumping catch should he need it.
Shreyas Iyer’s superhero moment
Iyer’s process in that moment had immediate reward. Continuing in the video, Iyer then tracked down the long fly ball from the bat of Hardik Pandya, who was going hard at the ball. The angle of the video does terrificly to convey how much went into the catch – the distance Iyer had to cover to get into position, how precisely he timed the jump to get two hands to it, and the flash moment in which he is able to pass it on to Bartlett.
To cap off the pure technical precision of that catch, it was also a big moment: Mumbai had the platform and were looking to cash in and go big, potentially close to 220 with Hardik in form. However, removing his opposite number, Iyer set up a chase of 196, which he and Prabhsimran Singh tracked down with incredible ease.
A batter of great quality, a captain who can’t stop winning, and a fielder who puts his body on the line and pulls off the spectacular on the regular. Shreyas Iyer is beginning to look like a cricket superhero.