Marcus Stoinis, the Australian all-rounder, has expressed his unwavering desire to continue playing international cricket beyond the T20 World Cup in June, despite Cricket Australia’s decision to exclude him from the central contracts list. Stoinis, who is widely expected to be named in Australia’s World Cup squad, has been in excellent form, as evidenced by his impressive century in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday. The 34-year-old smashed an unbeaten 124 off 63 balls, helping his team, the Lucknow Super Giants, defeat the Chennai Super Kings and climb into the top four of the points table. Post-match, Stoinis was named Player of the Match. While he refrained from describing his performance as a statement knock, he acknowledged his strong relationship with Australia coach Andrew McDonald. ‘I knew about the contract situation a while back,’ Stoinis stated after Lucknow’s fifth win in eight matches. ‘It’s fantastic to see younger players getting a chance to take my spot. I’m completely fine with that on the contract list. But on the playing front, I still want to make sure that I’m there. That’s also why it’s fortunate for us and especially for me to have competitions like the IPL. I pretty much started my career here and who knows, I might finish it here.’ Promoted to number three after Lucknow lost Quinton de Kock in the first over, Stoinis paced his innings effectively. ‘In this competition, there are many better opening batters than me, so I’ll let them do their job,’ he said. ‘It’s nice to get in early and build an innings, but I’ve settled into the middle order.’ Stoinis emphasized that his knock, which included six sixes and 13 fours, was not simply mindless slogging. ‘There was ebb and flow in the whole innings,’ he said. ‘There were some bowlers we wanted to target and some we played more cautiously against.’ The five-time champion, Chennai, slid to fifth position after its fourth loss in eight matches.
Stoinis Determined to Continue International Career Despite CA Contract Snub
