Jeddah, Nov 25 Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has expressed his excitement of joining Punjab Kings, saying he couldn't be happier about playing under the former great Ricky Ponting, who is the head coach of the franchise.
With his former team Lucknow Super Giants opting out of using the (Right to Match) RTM card on him, Punjab Kings bagged the all-rounder, who will be thrilled to be working with Ponting.
"IPL Auctions are always chaos. As a player you never know where you are going to end up. It is very lucky for me to end up with Punjab Kings under Head Coach Ricky Ponting. That is super exciting. I have not checked my phone, I have not spoken to anyone yet. But I could really not be happier," said Stoinis.
He was a force to be reckoned with in the previous edition of the IPL, delivering with both bat and ball. Stoinis single-handedly helped his former team on multiple occasions to get over the line.
He racked up 388 runs at a strike rate of 147.52 in IPL 2024. Stoinis's unbeaten 124 (63), highest individual score in the tounament's run-chases, powered LSG to a six-wicket win against CSK, as they chased down 211 last season.
Stoinis is enjoying his stint in Abu Dhabi T10 for the two-time Champions Deccan Gladiators. Being an allrounder, Stoinis said that it makes it easier for him in shorter formats to read the opposition, as he realises how he would want to approach certain situations.
"I am prepared to bowl anytime. I think, with the bat, depends on the situation. In this game, you cannot take too much time, so you pick your bowler, and you give yourself a couple of balls. And in this format, pretty much every ball has to go to the boundary. I think that's probably fortunate as an allrounder to thinking how the batter might be thinking. It's not too hard to adjust," he said after the match in which the Gladiators defeated defending champions New York Strikers by 68 runs.
Stoinis will link up with his Melbourne Stars teammate and fellow allrounder Glenn Maxwell at the Kings. Maxwell returns for his third stint with PBKS after they snapped him up for Rs 4.2 crore.
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