T20 World Cup | MS Dhoni told me how CSK would bowl to me, reveals Marcus Stoinis on his chat with MS Dhoni
Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has said that MS Dhoni was honest with him when he had a chat with the former India skipper during the IPL 2021. The all-rounder, part of Australia squad for ongoing T20 World Cup, revealed that Dhoni explained how CSK would bowl and set the field against.
Stoinis missed a large chunk of the second leg of the IPL 2021 due to a hamstring injury which he sustained during Delhi Capitalsâ (DC) game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He picked up the injury on the first ball of his second over and limped off the field. He made a comeback in the Qualifier 2 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in which he failed to make an impact.
Ahead of Australia's clash against Sri Lanka on Thursday, Stoinis has revealed an interesting conversation he had with none other than CSK's 4-time IPL-winning captain MS Dhoni. The 32-year-old, however, is still confused whether Dhoni complimented him or took a dig at him during the chat.Â
"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. was both a compliment but also a little dig where I have to figure out which way to take it and Iâm taking it as a compliment (laughs),â Stoinis said in a conversation with The Grade Cricketerâs YouTube channel.Â
Dhoni's 'really nice' advice to StoinisÂ
Further, the Perth-born also recalled a suggestion from Dhoni which has helped him durng his training session. Â
âIt was very interesting he did say that itâs 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,â the 32-year-old added.
âWe spoke about training, we spoke about his belief on âWork on your weakness as long as itâs not taking anything away from your strengthâ. 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,â the all-rounder further added.Â
On the playing front, Marcus Stoinis played a pivotal role in their win over South Africa in the first match of the Super 12s in the T20 World Cup 2021 on october 23. Chasing a 119-run target, Australia at one stage were struggling at 81 for 5 in 15.2 overs. South Africa bowlers Anrich Nortje, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi had almost pulled the match in South Africa's favour when Stoinis joined hands with Matthew Wade (15) and fired 24 runs off just 16 balls to help Australia win by 5 wickets and two balls remaining.Â