Tour of Australia: Virat Kohli always on 110% motivation, says Marcus Stoinis
Australian allrounder all praise for Ponting’s role in boosting his confidence
Dubai: Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, will not be feeling any ‘extra motivation’ to prove himself during the tour of Australia because of his early departure from the Test series. according to allrounder Marcus Stoinis. Kohli will be leaving for India after the first Test to be with his wife Anushka Sharma as the couple are expecting their first child at the year-end.
“Don’t worry about Virat; he’s up for every single game that he’s playing,” Stoinis said on Saturday. “I don’t think you can get any extra motivation than 110 per cent ... he’ll be ready to go.
Speaking to AAP, the Australian who had a good season with Delhi Capitals in the recent Indian Premier League, said: “We’ve got our strategies (against him), had things that have worked in the past, but other times the plans haven’t worked and he’s made some runs ... hopefully things land on our side of the court (this summer).”
Stoinis himself is feeling confident after a successful IPL stint under coach Ricky Ponting – who is now in Australia’s camp assisting Justin Langer – saw him propel the Delhi franchise to their first-ever final appearance.
He’s (Ponting) so generous with his time; throwing balls from the start of session until the end, then probably has a few anti-inflammatories and goes to bed for the rest of the day. The confidence he instils, the way he teaches you, he’s as good as you’ll get.
The 31-year-old made 352 runs at a strike rate of 148 and took 13 wickets during the campaign, with Ponting promoting him to open the batting in the latter stages of the tournament.
“I’m a massive fan of his (Ponting); he’s mentored me, he’s a good man, means a lot to me and his help was vital,” Stoinis said of the former Australia captain.
“He’s so generous with his time; throwing balls from the start of session until the end, then probably has a few anti-inflammatories and goes to bed for the rest of the day. The confidence he instils, the way he teaches you, he’s as good as you’ll get.
“I don’t think he’s in the business of changing careers but like all those good coaches, you don’t really know you’re being coached until you look back and realise (what he did was) bloody important.”
With Steve Smith missing from Australia’s last ODI series in England in September, Stoinis who was promoted to bat at No.3. He said Ponting had been one factor in “a big sort of pool of events” that led to more opportunities at the top of the order.
“Punter’s a big believer in me and wants to give me responsibility in the teams that he’s been in charge of, but I’ve got to be adaptable,” he said. “I’m just happy to be involved wherever they feel I can have my biggest impact in the game.
“Whether that’s at the top or the middle ... and I’ve had these conversations with Ricky and said: ‘just let me know and I’ll put the pads on’.”
Australia ODI & T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.
First ODI: November 27, SCG
Second ODI: November 29, SCG
Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval