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’.
“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.
