Marcus Stoinis has played as a finisher for Australia on numerous occasions and also in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he represented Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Stoinis received special advice from none other than MS Dhoni during the IPL 2021 and felt that the former India captain’s finishing style not only influences the opposition but the entire crowd. Speaking to journalist Borja Majumdar on YouTube, Stoinis recalled Dhoni’s advice after DC’s IPL 2021 Qualifier 1 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Dhoni had played an 18-point six-ball shot to help CSK defeat DC.

“Last year I spoke to several different players who play this role, whether it’s Hardik Pandya, you know, you understand that you have to see these situations as an opportunity to win the game. I spoke a lot to Dhoni from after one of our matches where he beat Delhi [Capitals] almost single-handedly in one of the semi-finals,” he said.

“He told me about the routine he goes through. How he sees the game, how he controls his breathing, how he manages his emotions.

Stoinis also revealed that Dhoni said it was important for a finisher to build a relationship with the team that “if you go out” someone else can fill in the role in the batting order.

“He just kind of said to me, ‘The way you have to approach it is to seek to be there at the end and take responsibility. There are different ways to do it [including] trying to score the points early and finish the game in 18th. “”

“But the risk he feels [in that method] is that you leave it to someone else if you go out. And he said you build that relationship with your team and the people around you.”

Stonis also pointed out how Dhoni influences “the whole crowd” and also how he makes everyone believe that “the game isn’t over”.

“You can almost tell it’s not just him, the whole crowd, the opposition, everyone thinks when Dhoni is on the ground, ‘this game isn’t over’, or he’s in control or that somehow it’s going to plan even though it might not be me You need 20 on the last one and you think “maybe he meant that” I thinks that’s the part of the art that he’s produced that he can have that influence on a lot of people.”

“And then he talked about how to stay calm. He doesn’t need to be ‘calmer’ or ‘better’ but in a situation where others are freaking out, he just stays where he is and gets that advantage.”

Stoinis will not represent DC in IPL 2022 as he was one of the draft picks from the new Lucknow Super Giants franchise. The other draft picks were KL Rahul and Ravi Bishnoi.

Promoted

Lucknow did pretty well in the IPL 2022 auction and bought Avesh Khan and Jason Holder.

Avesh was bought for Rs 10 crore and Holder was acquired for Rs 8.75 crore.