Legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar hailed Shreyas Iyer’s breathtaking catch as one of the finest he has ever seen after Punjab Kings captain Iyer produced an acrobatic moment to dismiss Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya. Iyer charged in from long-on and went for a reverse-cup effort against a mistimed pull from Hardik, then managed to transfer the catch to Xavier Bartlett while still airborne. The spectacular piece of fielding left plenty of viewers stunned, and Tendulkar was among the most impressed, calling it “one of the best catches I’ve ever seen.”
The Mumbai Indians dugout had a prime view of the incident, with Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav seated just a few metres from where Iyer eventually came down after parrying the ball towards the fielder charging in from long-off. In a viral clip, Rohit and Surya could be seen exchanging looks marked by disbelief as the catch unfolded.
Tendulkar later took to X to put into words what made the effort stand out, praising the captain for getting “everything spot on.” He explained that the brilliance wasn’t only about athletic ability, but also about the split-second judgement required in that kind of boundary-area chance—assessing the ball’s pace, the height it would reach, the position of the rope, and the risk of stepping over it, all while timing the leap perfectly.
In his post, Tendulkar added that the key elements behind the catch included Iyer’s head position, balance, and situational awareness. He emphasised the difficulty of executing the play cleanly while still in the air—catching the ball, releasing it to a teammate before landing, and doing so with an exact understanding of where that teammate was placed. “To process all of that in a split second takes unbelievable awareness, timing, fitness, and composure,” Tendulkar wrote.
He ended by underlining the impact of the moment: “Shreyas Iyer got everything spot on. One of the best catches I’ve ever seen live!”
