Connolly praises Shami as a world-class player ahead of semi-final battle

Melbourne, Australia - March 14, : In a bold move ahead of Australia's Champions Trophy semi-final clash, Cooper Connolly has been selected as the opener alongside Travis Head due to Matthew Short's injury, as announced by the official website of ICC.

While Connolly was dismissed early on from Mohammed Shami, the 21-year-old went on to snap the all-important wicket of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma in a tense semi-final chase.

Sharing his experience of the high-octane outing in the midst of the Sheffield Shield season, Connolly told reporters, "As a kid, you always want to represent your country and to walk out there in a semi-final was an unbelievable experience, and I'll take a lot of learnings from it," as quoted from the official website of ICC.

Connolly was set up by Mohammed Shami in the power play as the veteran quickly got rid of the left-hander with a gorgeous out-swinging delivery.

"Shami is a world-class player for a reason. He's played a lot of cricket," Connolly said.

"In the end, it was a great game of cricket and I think we took a lot of learnings as a group from that," he added.

As India embarked on their chase of 265, Connolly came close to sending Rohit Sharma back in the hut in the second over but couldn't hold onto his catch.

"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," he said.

"That 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," said Connolly who eventually went on to dismiss Rohit Sharma for his first ODI wicket.

Before heading into the Champions Trophy, Connolly also made his Test debut for Australia on the tour of Sri Lanka - another moment he'll cherish forever.

"Getting my Baggy Green and then to play a game in the Champions Trophy, it was a dream come true...hopefully there's plenty more to come," he said.

Connolly had no doubts about his abilities and was willing to work on his game for future challenges.

"I felt like it wasn't really a surprise. I felt like if I was going to play, I'd earned my opportunity," he said.

"I guess it's just about concentrating on what's in front of me at the moment, not looking too far ahead, and just trying to enjoy playing cricket and hopefully put some scores on the board. Hopefully work on my bowling a bit and get an opportunity again," he added.

"Obviously getting a little taste of it makes you want it more," he said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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