Marcus Stoinis
Australia's fast bowling all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has said that he is willing to perform whatever role is assigned to him but would love to help Glenn Maxwell lower down the order in the Australian limited-overs line-up.
Stoinis had recently opened the batting for Delhi Capitals (DC) in the last two matches - the Qualifier 2 against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the final against Mumbai Indians (MI). He clicked against SRH but failed against MI.
DC coach Ricky Ponting has backed Stoinis a lot and the all-rounder admitted that he has played a role in pushing him to the top at DC although Stoinis has had experience opening in the domestic cricket as well as Big Bash League before the IPL.
"That is a mix between me opening the batting when I was a lot younger, obviously in the Big Bash League and in state cricket. There was a talk about where I am going to bat in the Australian team and that I am more suited to opening the batting. I think there has been a sort of big pool of events leading me up to opening the batting," said the Australian while speaking to reporters on Saturday.
"But then, I also really enjoyed in the middle for DC in the IPL. Punter (Ponting) is a big believer in me and wants to give responsibility to me in the teams that he is been in charge of. I have batted in pretty much every position over the last three years. I have to keep that in mind," Stoinis added.
Ponting is helping the Australians prepare at the nets inside the Sydney quarantine hub.
The 31-year-old Western Australian, who has played 44 One-day Internationals and 22 T20 Internationals, said that there is a need to bat lower down along with Maxwell and provide some power-packed hitting.
"There is definitely a role there, I feel it is a role you have spend a bit of time in, understand it and the pressure. How you score boundaries in that (late overs) phase. The best in the world are striking at closer to 200 especially in T20. There are not too many of them, so a chance to put my hand up, Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) is there, one of the best in the world but obviously, someone's got to be with him," said Stoinis.
India's tour of Australia begins with the ODI series, the first of which will be played on November 27 in Sydney. The series will be broadcast on Sony Ten 1 (English commentary), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi) and Sony Six (select regional languages).
