“He wasn't there in our mind” - PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer reveals why they picked Cooper Connolly for IPL 2026

Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer has opened up on acquiring the services of the Australian all-rounder Cooper Connolly at the price of INR 3 Crore in the recently concluded IPL 2026 mini-auction.

Interestingly, PBKS entered the mini-auction with a total purse of INR 11.5 Crore and remained quiet for the major part of the auction, as they had to fill a maximum of only six slots, including two overseas players.

While PBKS had released Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie before the auction, the runners-up had acquired the services of Connolly and Ben Dwarshuis among the overseas slots. Moreover, they roped in the uncapped players Vishal Nishad and Pravin Dubey at the base price of 30Lakh each.

“Honestly, he (Cooper Connolly) wasn't there in our mind at the start, but as we brainstormed and narrowed down our options, we realised he fit the position perfectly,” Iyer said at the post-auction media conference. 

“He has a great temperament and the ability to finish games. Those characteristics matter a lot in IPL. However, we didn’t think we would get him for 3; we actually predicted his price would be much higher,” he added.

Speaking about his international numbers, Connolly has played one Test, eight ODIs and six T20Is. He has 111 runs in international cricket from eight innings across formats. Also, he has played 36 T20s. 

A total of 77 players were picked up by the franchises in the mini-auction, with a total money spent of INR 215.45 Crore. 

Punjab Kings (PBKS) full squad for IPL 2026 season

Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai*, Harnoor Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson*, Marco Jansen*, Marcus Stoinis*, Mitch Owen*, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett*, Yash Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ben Dwarshuis*, Cooper Connolly*, Vishal Nishad, Pravin Dubey.

*denotes overseas players.

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