Australia’s star all-rounder Marcus Stoinis credited the Indian Premier League for his evolution after his heroics in the ongoing ICC Mens’ T20 World Cup to help Australia outclass Sri Lanka in their Super 12 match in Perth on Tuesday. Stoinis credited IPL for helping him emerge as a power-hitter, especially when it comes to taking on spinners.
Marcus played a stunning knock of 59* runs off just 18 deliveries as Australia overcame a shaky start to chase down the target of 158 against Sri Lanka. He smashed 6 sixes and 5 boundaries as he took Sri Lanka’s lethal bowlers Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana to the cleaners in a stunning assault. He was ruthless against Hasaranga as he lofted the leg-spinner into the stands with ease.
After the match, Stoinis talked about his stunning performance and he credited IPL for the change in his performance. He said: “Yeah, definitely the IPL has changed my cricket and helped me evolve, and it’s not only playing on the wickets, it’s having the coaches from all over the world, having players from different countries,”
He added: “I’ve played for quite a few years in the IPL and quite a few teams, so you come across a range of techniques and mentalities about how to play spin. Yeah, it has helped me improve for sure,”
“But yeah, so I’m looking for two balls really, one off the back foot and one off the front foot, just to at least have an option to each,”
During his sensational knock, Stoinis looked in complete control even as the required run rate shot up during the chase against Sri Lanka. He walked out with all-guns blazing and smashed Sri Lanka bowlers to all the corners of the ground. However, he, later on, revealed that he felt nervous and his aggressive approach was not pre-planned. He said:
“I was actually quite nervous, to be honest, so yeah, the intention was just to go put an impact on the game and probably provide a bit of energy for the boys and try and get a spark going.”
He added: “Not really. It was just batting and looking at a score and then maybe towards the last couple of overs that I faced, I thought should I rein it in or should I keep going, but it’s probably just the time; you just keep going. If you hit one and get caught on the boundary, it’s part of the game.”
It was an important win for the Australian side, who lost their opening game against New Zealand. This win brought them back into the race for a place in the semi-final.
