Connolly stars on IPL debut, guides Punjab Kings to victory over Gujarat Titans

Mullanpur: Punjab Kings batter Cooper Connolly says head coach Ricky Ponting told him to dominate while he looked forward to learning from captain Shreyas Iyer on his IPL debut against Gujarat Titans.

Connolly struck a match-winning 72 not out (44 balls; 5 fours, 5 sixes) in his maiden IPL outing as Punjab Kings made a winning start to IPL 2026 here on Tuesday.

"I woke up in the morning with a little bit of nerves, which I was really happy about. I was really looking forward to getting out there and playing my part the best I can," Connolly told JioStar.


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"Ricky Ponting just kept me calm and collected. He 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."

"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 (against) 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 added.

The 22-year-old said he looks up to former Australia and PBKS player Shaun Marsh as his idol.

"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," Connolly said.

"Growing up, I played at 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," he added.

Meanwhile, legendary India spinner Anil Kumble expressed his surprise at Gujarat Titans bringing on their most successful bowler from last season Prasidh Krishna late into the attack.

Prasidh returned 4-0-29-3 but his late spell could not avert a defeat for the Titans.

"It was very surprising that the Gujarat Titans brought in Prasidh Krishna, the Purple Cap holder (in IPL 2025), only in the 13th over," Kumble said.

"... that short length troubled all batters throughout the game and Prasidh found that very early in his spell. But he was brought in too late in the innings. You rarely have a bowler bowl all four overs in the last eight overs of the innings.

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"You can't hold him back like that, and that's why the last over of Prasidh Krishna went for 14 runs. For GT's sake, Prasidh should have possibly bowled at least one over between the sixth and 10th overs, because he was ideally suited to that surface," Kumble added.

Talking about Yuzvendra Chahal who returned a fine 4-0-28-2, Kumble said the veteran leg-spinner made smart changes throughout his spells.

"He didn't try too many variations in terms of how he set up the batter. He kept bowling slightly wider and was very smart in that sense. He looked at the conditions and then aimed for the bigger side of the ground," Kumble noticed.

"He knew that if someone had to take him on that side, they had to connect really well, which they couldn't. Those wickets of Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler came at the right time for Punjab Kings, because Gill was looking good to capitalise on a strong start," he added.