‘Mohammed Shami is a world class player for a reason’: Australian young talent Connolly on Indian pacer | Cricket News

In what was World champions Australia’s first defeat in the knock-out stages in ICC Tournaments since the 2011 World Cup, opener Cooper Connolly remained in spotlight first with a nine-ball duck and later dropping a Rohit Sharma catch followed his wicket later during the team’s six-wicket loss against eventual champions India in the Champion Trophy semi-final in Dubai early this week. The 21-year-old had faced nine deliveries from Indian pacer Mohammed Shami before he edged behind for a nine-ball duck and the rookie, who was called in as replacement for Matthew Short in the semi-final, has termed Shami as a world class bowler.
“As a kid, you always want to represent your country, and to walk out there in a semi-final was an unbelievable experience, and I’ll take a lot of learnings from it. Mohammad Shami is a world class player for a reason. He’s played a lot of cricket. In the end, it was a great game of cricket and I think we took a lot of learnings as a group from that,” Connolly told reporters ahead of Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield match against Victoria.
The 21-year-old, who had played a knock of 90 runs in last year’s Sheffield Shield final, had made his ODI debut against England last year. The Western Australian had then made his Test debut during the Sri Lanka tour early this year. Connolly, who also bowls left-arm spin, was preferred upon opener Jake Fraser-Mcgurkfor the Champions Trophy semi-final clash against India. While he failed to make a mark during Australia’s batting, he dropped Rohit Sharma in the second over during India’s run chase before he picked up the wicket of Sharma in his first over in the innings. “It’s the game of cricket. You’re going to miss out, you’re going to drop a catch – you’ve got to get on with what’s in front of you. That (drop off Rohit) was completely out of my mind the time I was bowling, I was just trying to compete as much as I could and hopefully get a breakthrough for the team,” Connolly added.
The youngster, who has played in five First Class matches and 27 T20s in his career, also talked about his dream to play in IPL too. “Getting my Baggy Green and then to play a game in the Champions Trophy, it was a dream come true … hopefully there’s plenty more to come. The dream would be to play the IPL eventually… (But) I’m just concentrating on what’s in front of me. Not looking too far ahead, just trying to enjoy playing cricket and hopefully put some scores on the board while working on my bowling,” said Connolly.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

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