After overcoming a torrid form slump, young allrounder shapes as vital figure in Australia’s white-ball future
As the merits of overseas franchise cricket are debated during Australian cricket’s otherwise quiet months, it is notable that the most prominent league of all has provided an ideal stage for one of the country’s most promising talents to flourish.
Whether Cooper Connolly can translate his breakthrough Indian Premier League form for the Ricky Ponting-coached Punjab Kings into national colours shapes as a meaningful sub-plot when the 22-year-old returns to international cricket next month.
Connolly, having previously shown only fleeting glimpses of his skill at international level, will join Australia’s ODI squad in Bangladesh having thrived as a specialist-batting No.3 in the IPL, piling on a team-leading 415 runs at 51.87 while striking at 168.01.
An unbeaten 107 against a Pat Cummins-led Hyderabad attack, albeit in a losing cause, has been the cherry on top of a sparkling individual season.
Ponting has given Connolly a consistent role at the top of Punjab’s order, a luxury not always afforded the allrounder during his initial forays into each of the three international formats. That the left-arm spinner is not bowling in India due to a lower-back issue has further narrowed his attention.
But the major factor in Connolly’s turnaround might have come on the back of the biggest slump of his career that began during last summer’s Big Bash.
Weeks after playing in Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign, Connolly was dropped by Western Australia for their final Sheffield Shield match. In 17 innings across all formats between mid-December and early-March, he had averaged 7.20 and passed 10 just three times.
Being axed from the Shield side allowed him to make some technical adjustments before joining Punjab on a A$510k deal.
“It’s been fantastic,” selection chief George Bailey said of Connolly’s turnaround. “He’s had a good run at it over there. Not back to the bowling crease yet, so I think that’s allowed him to really focus and hone in on the batting side of things.
“Chatting to him a couple of (times), he was going from playing to playing to playing. I think he just had a brief moment towards the back-end of last (domestic season) where he was able to find a small window just to work on a couple of things technically.
“That certainly seems to be to be paying off. The performance is one thing, but just the confidence and growth and learning he’ll get out of that will be massive.”
Connolly’s journey since his international entrance in both white-ball formats in September 2024, the month after he turned 21, underscores the complicated landscape the game’s best young players are being released into.
In the 15 months since making his Test debut in February 2025, Connolly has played 53 games for six different teams (Australia, Australia A, Western Australia, Perth Scorchers, San Francisco Unicorns and Punjab Kings) in six different countries across all three formats, batting in every position between opener and No.8.