Timing, fielding and mindset are the three elements young Cooper Connolly focuses on as he looks to make a mark at the highest level.
In his maiden IPL season, the 22-year-old Punjab Kings left-hander from Perth, an admirer of former Australia top-order batsman Shaun Marsh, has impressed most during his innings of 72 not out (off 44 balls) and 36 (off 22 balls) against Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, respectively.
“Each player has his own strengths, and I’m pretty keen to stick to my own. It has been successful for me so far. Obviously, power is becoming a big part of T20 cricket, but there are other ways to go around it. And that’s going to be my sort of understanding
and learning, and I’m going to get around that,” Connolly said on ‘JioStar Press Room’ ahead of the TATA IPL 2026 Rivalry Week.
“But yeah, I’m pretty happy with maintaining the tempo because that’s allowing me to perform the best I can for this team. And even in other tournaments as well, it’s something that I’m sticking to.
“I’ll slowly adapt and get better at these areas. At present, it’s just about nailing down my game and then adding little bits to the puzzle,” the Kings’ No.3 batsman elaborated.
The Indian conditions aren’t completely alien to Connolly as he had a taste of the pitches here during the Australia ‘A’ tour last September and October. It was during those matches when Connolly got the opportunity to interact with Shreyas Iyer (who was leading India ‘A’ in the series) and also got a few inputs from the Kings captain.
“I enjoy learning from Shreyas. It’s about taking notes and listening to Ricky (Ponting, Kings’ head coach) and Shreyas as to what they think works in these conditions,” the youngster stated.
For a young Australian batter, it’s not easy tackling spin in Indian conditions. But he has done decently well. “The wickets have been relatively nice so far. So, I think it’s just about trying to put the pressure back on the spinner and bring the quicks back on.
“I feel like that’s where I do my best work with the quicks. So, yeah, just making sure I’m trying to dominate as much as I can and hit the ball hard. It’s about how I can manage that and how I can be better.”
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