It was both a compliment and a dig: Marcus Stoinis recalls chat with MS Dhoni during IPL 2021
Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis revealed that the chat with MS Dhoni made him feel happy and insulted at the same time.
Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis on Thursday recalled his interesting and "honest" conversation with former Indian skipper Marcus Stoinis during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, a chat that made him feel happy and insulted at the same time.
"He was actually very honest with me. He understood me very well and he sort of said how they (CSK) would try to bowl to me and how he tried to set the fields for me. [It] was both a compliment but also a little dig where I have to figure out which way to take it and I’m taking it as a compliment (laughs),” Stoinis said in a conversation with The Grade Cricketer’s YouTube channel.
“It was very interesting he did say that it’s very obvious how some people want to take some responsibility and stay until the end, whereas some people are willing to take the risk early to, sort of, either try and get ahead of the game or walk off and he identifies that within the team,” Stoinis added.
Dhoni has been part of the IPL since the inaugural season, winning four titles as the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, including the win in IPL 2021 in the UAE. Stoinis, on the other hand, has been part of the IPL since 2016 and is yet to win the trophy as a player, having featured for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings).
“We spoke about training, we spoke about his belief on ‘Work on your weakness as long as it’s not taking anything away from your strength’. So he spoke about how a lot of coaches will ask you to work on things and you might work on the short ball and then you start missing the full ball… which was a really, really nice filter for me for training,” the all-rounder added.
Stoinis did miss a large part of Capitals' campaign in the UAE during IPL 2021 owing to an injury, but returned for the second qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), although failing to make an impact.
Stoinis is presently part of the Australian squad for the T20 World Cup 2021. He scored 24 off 16 in the opener against South Africa where Australia won the game.