“I was just getting so angry” - Former cricketer blasts Australian batter after failure in IND vs AUS 2025 Champions Trophy semifinal

Former Australian keeper-batter Ian Healy has come down hard on Cooper Connolly after the latter's flop show with the bat in the Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal against Team India on Tuesday. Healy stated that the conditions demanded batters to play long innings and swinging for the fences every ball was not sensible.

Connolly, who replaced Matt Short at the top of the order, faced nine balls without scoring anything before being dismissed by Mohammed Shami. The right-arm seamer got the better of the southpaw in the third over as he nicked the final ball of the over, with KL Rahul taking a low catch.

Speaking on SENQ Breakfast, the Queenslander observed that Connolly had failed to recognize even after Travis Head, from the other end, told him about how the wicket behaved. Lamenting it as poor thinking, he stated:

"I got so angry. Travis Head was gesturing about how slow the wicket was to his partner. Cooper Connolly just kept swinging. In those conditions, you have to work the ball around into gaps and not swing (for the fences). Mohammad Shami was the bowler and I was just getting so angry. It was such poor thinking and when you’re batting in tough conditions, you have got to work hard."

Despite losing the all-rounder cheaply after opting to bat first, Australia had steered themselves to a competitive 264 in 49.3 overs after half-centuries from Steve Smith and Alex Carey. However, India's deep batting line-up ensured they overhauled Australia's total with more than an over to spare.

"Connolly’s footwork was absent" - Ian Healy points out Australia all-rounder's glaring weakness

Andrew Symonds Public Memorial Service - Source: Getty

Healy also observed that Connolly was not watching the ball and that minimal footwork meant he kept missing the ball. The 60-year-old elaborated:

"There were three and a half hours of hard work (to be had there) and it was just reckless thinking rather than getting the ball on the bat and using your footwork. Connolly’s footwork was absent, his shot selection was poor and his technique of the shot was poor because he wasn’t watching the ball. His head was watching the gap (in the field) where he thought the ball was going to go and he kept missing it all the time."

Connolly had also dropped Rohit Sharma's catch but dismissed the Team India skipper in his first over, trapping him lbw.