Before this, he was part of the England men's cricket team as their fielding coach.
Mumbai Indians (MI) got one of their most thrilling wins of the season against Delhi Capitals (DC). The batters and bowlers played well, but it was the fielding that really changed the game. Three run outs in a row, a quick stumping, and some brilliant wicketkeeping by Ryan Rickelton helped Mumbai take control. This great fielding effort was guided by their fielding coach Carl Hopkinson.
Carl Hopkinson is 43 years old and is currently working with Mumbai Indians as their fielding coach. Before this, he was part of the England men’s cricket team as their fielding coach. He joined the England setup in 2018 and was a part of their big tournament wins – the fifty over World Cup in 2019 and the T20 World Cup in 2022. He left his role with England in November 2024, just before Brendon McCullum took charge of the team in all formats.
Hopkinson also worked with England’s Under 19 team earlier in his career. As a player, he was a batter and played most of his cricket for Sussex. He featured in 64 first class matches, 92 List A games and 28 T20s.
Mumbai Indians were not having the best of seasons before this match. Even against Delhi, they were heading towards another loss. Delhi were chasing 206 and Karun Nair had scored a quick 89 from 40 balls. They needed just 26 more runs to win when everything changed.
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Ashutosh Sharma tried to run a second but had to go around Jasprit Bumrah. Will Jacks collected the ball quickly at deep point and sent in a perfect throw. Ryan Rickelton gathered it cleanly and hit the stumps. Ashutosh was short and Mumbai had an opening.
Next, substitute fielder Raj Angad Bawa ran in from the deep and threw the ball quickly to the striker’s end. Once again, Rickelton made no mistake. Then came the final blow – Mitchell Santner hit the stumps directly from midwicket to remove Mohit Sharma. Mumbai Indians had pulled off a hat-trick of run outs to seal the game.
Earlier in the match, Rickelton had already shown his skills by stumping Vipraj Nigam off Santner’s bowling. It was a slow delivery and Rickelton reacted in a split second to remove the bails. The umpires even checked if he had moved too early, but he was in control.
Rickelton’s sharp keeping and Mumbai’s overall fielding efforts were clearly a result of strong behind the scenes training. Carl Hopkinson’s work with Rickelton and the other players is starting to show real results on the field.
After the win, Mumbai Indians celebrated their fielding efforts at the team hotel. The three players who made the run outs happen were Will Jacks, Raj Angad Bawa and Mitchell Santner. They took a photo with Carl Hopkinson. The photo was a simple way of showing how important his work has been.
Carl Hopkinson may not be a very famous name, but his training is clearly helping Mumbai Indians improve their fielding. In close matches like this one, that kind of effort can change the game.
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