Marcus Stoinis reveals the reason behind joining Lucknow franchise in the Indian T20 League 2022

The Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis had a somewhat underwhelming Indian T20 League season, wherein he scored 156 runs and took just 4 wickets in 11 matches. He still, however, feels that helping build a new franchise is something that would give him a great deal of satisfaction 10-15 years down the line.

Advertisment

The Lucknow team is among the two teams that were added to the Indian T20 League this year. With a price tag of almost $1 billion, the UP based team was built around KL Rahul, de Kock and Stoinis as the core of the team. Although they did not win this year’s Indian T20 League, their maiden season would still be considered a success given they were able to achieve the 2nd joint points in a highly competitive season.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, hard hitting all-rounder laid importance on the creation of the franchise and his relationship with the other players.

“The big reason I wanted to sign for Lucknow was to help build something from scratch. Have a blank canvas to work with, in the company of someone like KL Rahul and Sanjeev to build something that you can look back on in 10-15 years,” expressed Stoinis when asked about the reason to join the Lucknow team. Hailing Shane Warne as an example, he said, “I think back to Warnie and how he started with Rajasthan and what he did there, and how he’s still an integral part of that team and how he helped build that culture.”

Advertisment

The Perth born all-rounder was contemplative while looking back at his journey. “When I first went to the IPL, 6-7 years ago, I was pretty much this young kid who was happy to be there, happy to do whatever was needed, almost on training camp every year because I wasn’t playing that much cricket,” Stoinis added. Speaking about building relationships with players, he said, “I definitely have noticed as I’ve gone back, now that I’m a bit older and playing a different role in the IPL, those relationships have helped.”