‘IPL has changed my cricket and helped me evolve’: Marcus Stoinis on his blinder vs Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup 2022

Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis played an absolute blinder, scoring a match-winning 59 runs off 18 balls at a mind-blowing strike rate of 327.78 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday in the T20 World Cup 2022. His blitzkrieg helped the Aussies get two points as they chased down a target of 158 runs in 16.3 overs and won by seven wickets. The 33-year old hit six massive sixes and four fours, thus gathering 52 runs off just boundaries in his sensational knock.

Player of the match Stoinis credited the Indian Premier League(IPL) for his transformation and evolution as a T20I batter. The Australian all-rounder was ruthless against the Sri Lankan spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga. He also credited IPL for his aggressive approach against spinners.

"Yeah, definitely the IPL has changed my cricket and helped me evolve, and it's not only playing on the wickets, it's having the coaches from all over the world, having players from different countries. I've played for quite a few years in the IPL and quite a few teams, so you come across a range of techniques and mentalities about how to play spin. Yeah, it has helped me improve for sure," Stoinis said after the win on Tuesday night.

"But yeah, so I'm looking for two balls really, one off the back foot and one off the front foot, just to at least have an option to each," he said.

"You sort of then go from there. You're trying to get the field that you want, which is sometimes why you want to play a lap or reverse or a sweep shot, which I'm working on sort of thing," explained the Aussie all-rounder.

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In route to his explosive knock, Stoinis completed the fastest half century by an Australian in T20I cricket as he brought up his fifty off just 17 balls. His explosive gameplay also helped the defending champions better their net run rate which had taken a beating after their comprehensive loss to New Zealand in their opening match at the marquee tournament.

Talking about what went through his mind and whether the fiery innings was pre-planned, he said "Not really. It was just batting and looking at a score and then maybe towards the last couple of overs that I faced, I thought should I rein it in or should I keep going, but it's probably just the time; you just keep going. If you hit one and get caught on the boundary, it's part of the game."

Australia will face arch-rivals England in their next match at the tournament on October 28, Friday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.