Australia played India in a semi-final on Tuesday, but he was dismissed for a duck in a match that was hard to watch as his team went down to defeat.
About a day after being promoted from the travelling reserve to the main team, Connolly was chosen to play in the opening spot instead of Matt Short, who had suffered a quadriceps injury.
Selectors preferred Connolly to open alongside Travis Head instead of Jake Fraser-McGurk or Aaron Hardie, who were overlooked for a spot in the XI.
Connolly then went out and missed his bat six times in an innings that only lasted for nine deliveries.
The 21-year-old finally got a bat on the ball with the ninth delivery he faced, but Mohammed Shami’s delivery caught the toe of his bat and was picked up by India’s wicketkeeper.
The umpire, Richard Illingworth, initially didn’t send him packing, but India decided to have a look at the decision and it was overturned.
In a clear sign of how exposed Connolly looked, India declared a second slip after the Western Australian batsman played and missed for the fifth time.
He grew increasingly frustrated as his hits and errors mounted.
When DRS sealed his fate, he slunk off to Dubai with his head hung low.
“He’s out of it now, isn’t he, Cooper Connolly?” said Indian cricket legend Ravi Shastri on the broadcast.
The Indians had Australia 1-4 when they claimed the wicket of Connolly, who was opening the batting in international cricket for the first time.
He had batted at No.5 and No.3 in both his previous one-day international matches.
He smashed 39 runs off 33 balls in a fiery counter-attack that featured five fours and two sixes, before getting out caught down the ground by Shubman Gill off the leg-spinning of Varun Chakravarthy.
Connolly made his Test debut in the second match of this series in Sri Lanka, taking over from off-spinner Todd Murphy.
Batting at number eight in his only innings, he was dismissed for four.
The left-arm orthodox spinner bowled five overs without taking a wicket.
But Australian coach Andrew McDonald labelled the youngster an exciting prospect following his Test debut.
“He’s just getting started. I reckon it’s a bit too early to make any judgments about that game,” McDonald said.
Five balls, the shot he played, if he had it again, he might have chosen a different option.
He’s definitely a bloke we’re keen on for the future. Once he gets up to the level where he’s competing for a spot in the top six batsmen, who knows? But that’s where we see him heading.
The acting captain Steve Smith also gave him a big boost, saying there’s no question about him having a bright future ahead of him.
