Srinagar: Australia batter Marcus Stoinis has said that he is happy that younger players have been given Central Contract in Australia team and he is fully determined to play for Australia at International level.
The versatile all-rounder expressed his commitment to continue playing for Australia, indicating his strong desire to be part of the squad for the World Cup in the West Indies and the United States.
Stoinis for the Lucknow Super Giants, delivered a stunning performance with an unbeaten century on Tuesday against Chennai Super Kings. The 34-year-old Stoinis hammered an impressive 124 runs off just 63 deliveries, guiding LSG to a crucial six-wicket victory that propelled them into the top four of the points table.
“I’ve got a great relationship with the [Australia] coach [Andrew McDonald],” Marcus Stoinis said.
“Me not getting a contract, I knew that a while ago. I think it is great to give younger kids a crack and let them take my spot. I’m absolutely fine with that on the contract list. But on the playing front, obviously want to make sure that I’m there and that’s also why it’s so lucky for us and for me particularly to have this competition [the IPL], that’s why I love it so much.” Stoinis added
Stoinis was promoted to number three after LSG lost Quinton de Kock in the first over against CSK, allowing the Australian to pace his innings.
“In this competition, there are plenty of better opening batters than me, so I’ll let them do their job,” he said.
“It is nice to get in early and build an innings but I have settled in the middle order.”
Stoinis smashed six sixes and 13 fours in his knock but it was not mindless slogging, he said.
“There was ebb and flow in the whole innings. There were some bowlers we wanted to target, some that we played more cautiously against.”