XtraTime Web Desk: Marcus Stoinis had a blistering start in this year’s IPL. Delhi Capitals faced Kings XI Punjab in the 2nd match of this year’s IPL where Stoinis scored 53 runs in just 21 balls to set up a good total for the calitals. Speaking about his innings, Stonis said that he wants to just express himself in this year’s IPL.
Shreyas Iyer led Delhi Capitals defeated Kings XI Punjab in a Super Over on Sunday. The capitals had just 3 runs to chase which they did it in just 2 balls and won the match quite comfortably.
In the match Stoinis was the standout performer as he made 53 runs off just 21 balls to take the team’s total to 157/8 in the allotted twenty overs. And, when Punjab needed just one run off the final two deliveries in the match, Stoinis was able to take two back-to-back wickets to take the game to a Super Over.
“I’ve come in with some confidence through good performances this year, but also maybe putting less responsibility on myself than some other years. Sometimes when you’re young and you’re in a rush, you want to do well and you’re trying so hard,” Stoinis said in an official release.
“So I think this year I sort of just wanted to express myself and its only one game, so we’ll see, you can turn from a hero to a villain quickly, but yes, my focus is on just having a lot of fun and trust that I’ll be good,” he added.
The 31-year-old all-rounder also said that going back to basics has helped him and he is now looking to keep things as simple as possible.
“I think everyone who plays cricket at this level, the main reason you play it, is because you love it. You start playing when you’re a kid, and there’s so much travel, staying away from home and there’s obviously the pressures. But the main reason you do it is that you love what you do. That’s the main ingredient,” said Stoinis.
Having accelerated the innings for the Delhi Capitals and taken them to a decent total, the Australian said that he was constantly speaking to coach Ricky Ponting about the ideal total against Kings XI Punjab.
“I was speaking to Ricky quite a bit. I was pretty nervous because the game was sort of in the balance. But we had put on a pretty good partnership with the skipper and Rishabh. But we had to sort of readjusting our thinking – Initially, we were aiming for 160, but then we thought maybe 130 will be a winning or competitive score. So with Ricky and myself, we just thought, let’s get to 130 – assess the conditions and then have a go,” Stoinis said.
Delhi Capitals will now face Chennai Super Kings on Friday, September 25 at the Dubai International Stadium.
With inputs from PTI