Connolly: Woke up in the morning with a bit of nerves but Ponting kept me calm & collected

Cooper Connolly made a dream debut to guide Punjab Kings to a thrilling three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in the TATA IPL 2026 in Chandigarh on Tuesday night. Connolly kept his cool even as wickets were falling and amid the chaos, he displayed amazing character to steer his side to safety.

Connolly keeps his cool to settle Punjab’s nerves as they script 3-wicket win over Titans

“I 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. He told me to play my game, go out there and dominate. It was a nice team performance,” Connolly said on JioHotstar’s Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live.

We were very strong with the ball: Connolly

“We were very strong with the ball and made things easier for ourselves. It was a really good day for us. 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 added.

https://x.com/Sachin_Gandhi7/status/2039199929630101731?s=20

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 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 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.”

It was very surprising that the Gujarat Titans brought in Prasidh Krishna, the Purple Cap holder, only in the 13th over, says Anil Kumble

Kumble questions Titans’ tactics

Former India skipper Anil Kumble questioned Gujarat Titan’s tactics of bringing Prasidh Krishna into the attack so late. “It was very surprising that the Gujarat Titans brought in Prasidh Krishna, the Purple Cap holder, only in the 13th over. The first one, of course, was a lucky breakthrough. Shreyas Iyer had been hit on the hand a couple of balls earlier, so maybe, there was a loss in concentration. It was a half-volley. He wanted to pick it up and hit it straight to the fielder,” Kumble said.

“Then there was a very good ball to get Shashank Singh, 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, because you rarely have a bowler bowl all four overs in the last eight overs of the innings. 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 6th and 10th overs, because he was ideally suited to that surface,” Kumble added.

Chahal is very smart, says Kumble

On leggie Yuzvendra Chahal breaking the back of Titans’ innings with two big wickets, Kumble said: “Chahal is very smart. He changes his line, length, varies his speeds, you name it. 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. He knew that if someone had to take him on that side, they had to connect really well, which they couldn’t.

Yuzvendra Chahal 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, said Anil Kumble. Pics: BCCI

“He got a wicket, and 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. Unfortunately for Titans, their usual approach of having one batter anchor through 15 overs, which generally gives them an advantage, didn’t quite work out,” he said.