Follow UsAll of a sudden, 22-year-old Cooper Connolly is the talk of the town as he managed to get Australia over the line in a thrilling two-wicket win over India in the second match of the three-match ODI series. This victory at the Adelaide Oval handed Australia an unassailable 2-0 lead as they had also won the first ODI at Perth.
Connolly was on a tour of India earlier in September – October this year to play four-day as well as limited overs cricket in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and Kanpur. The youngster gave the tour a lot of credit for improving his game.
“I think that trip to Kanpur was one of the trips that sort of helped me get my game back in some good stead. I felt like I hadn’t found the middle of the bat for a while, and to go out there and play against a pretty good India A attack when we were over there, built some confidence in me leading into this,” Connolly was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
Connolly was a hero of the Perth Scorchers during the 2023-24 Big Bash League Final two years ago, and being in a very thrilling situation in the game in Adelaide made him revisit that moment. He also revealed that he started singing to calm his nerves down, having already been star struck in the presence of the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
“I actually had a moment out there today where I was just thinking about how I felt when I was out there (during the BBL final in 2023). To bring myself back down to earth and control my emotions, I like to sing a song to myself. I started singing between every ball just to relax, take myself off the game and try to embrace it as much as possible,” he said.
“I was a little bit starstruck walking out and Virat and Rohit were there. It’s always nice to challenge yourself with the best opponent,” added the spin-bowling all-rounder.
Connolly would be looking to replicate the heroics during the third ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and give Australia a chance at creating history by sweeping India in a ODI series for the first time ever.