IPL 2026: I’m sticking to my strengths and building my tempo game, says Cooper Connolly

Cooper Connolly made a memorable start to his Indian Premier League (IPL) career, announcing himself in style with a stunning debut performance for Punjab Kings. His impressive knock drew comparisons with his idol Shaun Marsh, who had also made a dream debut in the inaugural 2008 season for the same franchise, then known as Kings XI Punjab.

Connolly smashed an unbeaten 72 and was rightly awarded the Player of the Match for his brilliant effort. He confidently launched two sixes each off Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada, showcasing both his skill and fearless approach. Interestingly, despite being part of a batting lineup known for its aggressive intent from the very first ball, Connolly displayed maturity by sticking to his natural game. He had a cautious start, scoring just three runs off his first five deliveries.

“I think each player has their own strengths, and I’m pretty keen to stick to my own strengths. It’s been successful for me so far. So, yes, obviously power is becoming a big part of T20 cricket, but there’s other ways to go around it [too]. And that’s going to be me sort of understanding and learning, and I’m going to get around that,” said Connolly in the media interaction as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“But, yeah, I’m pretty happy with sort of the tempo game at the moment because that’s allowing me to perform the best that I can for this team. And even in other tournaments as well, I think it’s something… what I’ve done for the last five, six years now, and I’ll slowly adapt from that, and I’ll get better at obviously those areas. But I’m looking forward to sort of, yeah, just nailing down my game and then adding little bits to the puzzle,” he added.

At PBKS, Connolly has been interacting closely with his world-class captain, Shreyas Iyer, as well as head coach Ricky Ponting. His conversations with Iyer actually date back to September–October 2025, when Connolly was in India representing Australia A. Iyer captained India A in the first first-class match and the subsequent one-day series, at a time when Connolly had not yet been picked by PBKS.

Since 2024, Connolly has also made his debut for the senior Australia side across all three formats. He believes that his relatively aggressive approach in the longest format helps align his red-ball and 50-over cricket, allowing his game in both formats to complement each other.

“It’s just how can I go from those two formats to T20 cricket, and [from] T20 cricket back to those formats. I think that’s the beauty about playing all three formats,” he said. “It’s a challenge, and it’s going to take some time to sort of understand how I’m going to go between all three formats. But I’m enjoying that challenge, and I’m learning every time… I’m still [only] 22. So I’m still trying to work that out and what works for me. But yeah, it’s the beauty of the game. You’re not going to have everything worked out by the age of 22,” said Connolly.

“And there’s still a lot of time to learn. But I think it’s going to be about asking around and understanding how other people go about it, and switching from format to format, and, yeah, just seeing what might work for me and take the notes down and try it out. And eventually, I’ll work something out. But I think there’s still some slight things that I do that I still haven’t mastered yet. So I’m looking forward to that,” he added.

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