'Mohammed Shami is a world-class player for a reason' – Cooper Connolly hails Indian pacer after Champions Trophy 2025 clash

Fiery pacer Mohammed Shami made Cooper Connolly dance to his tunes in the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final clash between India and Australia, which was held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, on March 4.

The southpaw replaced an injured Matthew Short for the high-voltage clash and opened the batting alongside Travis Head. However, he played and missed several deliveries against Shami as it seemed like the Bengal seamer had him in all sorts of trouble. Shami eventually dismissed Connolly, who was out caught-behind by KL Rahul for a nine-ball duck. Australia lost their first wicket with just four runs on the board after three overs. In a recent interview, Connolly acknowledged Shami's undeniable bowling prowess, describing the 34-year-old as a "world-class bowler."

"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 was quoted as saying by the ICC.

Furthermore, Conolly also spoke about the missed chance as he dropped India skipper Rohit Sharma at backward point during the third over of India's run-chase. However, he said that he managed to take his mind away from the fielding lapse and delivered with the ball, ending Rohit's 28-run innings. This turned out to be his maiden ODI wicket.

“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 by the time I was bowling, I was just trying to compete as much as I could and hopefully get a breakthrough for the team,” he added.

Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin picks his Champions Trophy 2025 best XI; Omits Rohit Sharma & Mohammed Shami

Conolly bowled well in CT 2025 semifinal against India

Cooper Connolly bowled well but couldn't add more wickets to his tally. Notably, he picked up an important wicket upfront in the form of Rohit Sharma. During his bowling spell of eight overs, he conceded 37 runs. The Men in Blue won the match by four wickets, chasing down a 265-run target with 11 balls to spare. Connolly, who has played one Test, four ODIs, and two T20Is so far, will be seen in action for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria in Match 29 from March 15, in Perth.