“We’ve got our strategies,” says Marcus Stoinis on Australia’s preparation against Virat Kohli

Marcus Stoinis: The Australian all-rounder opened up on playing under Ricky Ponting in IPL 2020 and facing Virat Kohli next week.

Australia and Delhi Capitals all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has spoken highly about playing under former Australia captain and current head coach of Capitals in the recently concluded 13th season of the Indian Premier League.

Stoinis was wax lyrical about Ponting mentioning about the latter’s constant support for him both on and off-the-field in the UAE. “I’m a massive fan of his [Ricky Ponting]; he’s mentored me, he’s a good man, means a lot to me and his help was vital,” Stoinis was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“He’s so generous with his time; throwing balls from the start of session until the end, then probably has a few anti-inflammatories and goes to bed for the rest of the day. The confidence he instills, the way he teaches you, he’s as good as you’ll get.

“I don’t think he’s in the business of changing careers but like all those good coaches you don’t really know you’re being coached until you look back and realise [what he did was] bloody important,” Stoinis said.

In what was unequivocally Stoinis’ best IPL season, he scored 352 runs at an average and strike rate of 25.14 and 148.52 respectively which also included three half-centuries. Excelling with the ball in hand as well, Stoinis picked 13 wickets at an average of 21.76 and a strike rate of 13.69.

Marcus Stoinis on Australia’s preparation against Virat Kohli

Stoinis, who has played IPL 2019 under India captain Virat Kohli at Royal Challengers Bangalore, talked against Kohli possessing any extra threat during his restricted stint to Australia this time.

Laying emphasis on how Kohli never fails to put on display his best on a cricket field, Stoinis was confident about his team’s preparations to combat the No. 1 ranked ODI batsman next week.

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“Don’t worry about Virat [Kohli]; he’s up for every single game that he’s playing. I don’t think you can get any extra motivation than 110 percent, he’ll be ready to go.

“We’ve got our strategies [against him], had things that have worked in the past, but other times the plans haven’t worked and he’s made some runs … hopefully things land on our side of the court [this summer],” Stoinis added.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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