Young Aussie batsman Cooper Connolly is having a great time with the bat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). His partnership with Priyansh Arya has been one of the highlights of the season for Punjab Kings.
All through the season, the left-hander has impressed all and sundry with his shot-making and his ability to play according to various conditions and match situations. He has already scored a ton.
On Sunday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), he scored a 27-ball 38 in the bowler-friendly conditions of Dharamsala. During the course of his innings, he broke an 18-year-old record set by Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya.
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In 2008, in what was the inaugural season of the IPL, Jayasuriya hit 31 sixes while playing for Mumbai Indians. With those two sixes, Connolly reached 32 maximums and overtook Jayasuriya’s record of maximum sixes in a debut IPL season.
In 13 matches so far, the 22-year-old has scored 473 runs at an average of 47.30 and a strike rate of 162.4. Connolly plays for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield and Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League. At such a young age, he has represented the Aussies in all three formats. As of now, he has played one Test, 8 ODIs and 11 T20Is.
Ponting behind Connolly!
Earlier in the season, former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis credited Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting for bringing the young talent to the IPL. “Ricky Ponting would have seen a lot of him in Australia and possibly more than other people around the world. So he would have backed him to come here,” du Plessis said.
“But even just for a young guy to be working with someone like Ricky Ponting early on in his international career — because he’s also been fast-tracked into the international team, perhaps ahead of a lot of other players — in terms of a batting coach, a mentor, guys like that really fast-track your career.
“So he’s in a good position now, and in his first IPL he’s putting in performances to lock himself in for that consistency, because players like that, you want to see them maximise their full potential. Even when they come over to the IPL, you want them to do well because they’re all good players and they can be good in the future,” he added.