Cooper Connolly follows Shaun Marsh’s footsteps at Punjab Kings

Cooper Connolly reflected on his debut for Punjab Kings, where he scored an unbeaten half-century. He credited Ricky Ponting for keeping him calm and expressed his eagerness to learn from teammates like Shreyas Iyer during the tournament

Hyderabad: Cooper Connolly, who made a brilliant debut for Punjab Kings in the match against Gujarat Titans with an unbeaten half-century, recalled that he “woke up in the morning with a little bit of nerves, which I was really happy about, but yeah, I was really looking forward to getting out there and playing my part the best I can. Ricky Ponting just kept me calm and collected.”

“Ponting told me to play my game, go out there and dominate. It was a nice team performance. We were very strong with the ball and made things easier for ourselves. It was a really good day for us,” Connolly said on JioHotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’.

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“I was looking forward to spending time out in the middle with Shreyas Iyer and just sort of picking his brains a little bit. He’s a world-class player. I’ve played a little bit of cricket with him for Australia A and Australia. He is a great player for a reason, and hopefully, I can learn as much as I can,” he said.

On following in Shaun Marsh’s footsteps as an Australian left-hander, top-order batter for Punjab Kings, Connolly said: “It was a nice moment when I got picked up. Shaun Marsh was the first person I spoke to about it and he gave me some good words. Growing up, I played in Western Australia with him for a long period of time and he has always been good to me.”

“I looked up to him as a mentor and an idol and really enjoyed spending some time with him. It’s nice to be among the runs. There are still plenty of games to go and I am really looking forward to the rest of the tournament,” he said.