The Australian allrounder was one of Super Giants' three pre-auction signings ahead of IPL 2022.
The opportunity to leave his imprints on a new franchise and help them draw a fresh canvas on the field attracted Marcus Stoinis towards a gig with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of the IPL 2022. The Australian allrounder said the chance to aid LSG’s quest to claim a maiden IPL trophy in the first go was really exciting for him.
Speaking with Cricbuzz, Stoinis explained why he ended up being one of the pre-auctioning signings with LSG apart from their skipper KL Rahul and young wristspinner Ravi Bishnoi.
LSG roped in Stoinis for a handsome sum of INR 9.2 crores before the mega auction in February. The cricketer arrived late for the stint but went to play an integral part in Giants’ run towards the playoffs, a fine achievement for a franchise finding its feet.
“The big reason I wanted to sign for Lucknow (Super Giants) was to help build something from scratch,” said Marcus Stoinis. “Have a blank canvas to work with, in the company of someone like KL Rahul and Sanjeev (Goenka) to build something that you can look back on in 10-15 years.”
The Shane Warne touch behind Marcus Stoinis’ decision to sign with LSG
Extending his point further, Stoinis said doing something along the lines of what the great Shane Warne did with Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the augural season of the IPL also drew him towards the Lucknow franchise.
Warne, the legendary spinner, led the Royals to their only title to date when nobody gave the team a sniff in the build-up to IPL 2008. Similarly, almost no one expected LSG, and co-new entrants and eventual title-holders Gujarat Titans (GT), to perform as brilliantly as they did in IPL 2022.
“No one else gets this opportunity to start at a new franchise apart from – I think back to Warnie (Shane Warne) and how he started with Rajasthan (Royals) and what he did there, and how he’s still an integral part of that team and how he helped build that culture,” said Stoinis.
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LSG suffered a painstaking loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Eliminator at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. But the KL Rahul led side enjoyed an impressive run to the playoffs before that, winning nine of their 14 league stage encounters and finishing third in the 10-team points table.
