Aussie allrounder Marcus Stoinis has opened up about the brutal toll of missing out on selection for the World Cup One Day International final after being dropped for the ultimate game. Stoinis has been a mainstay in the Aussie white-ball cricket teams for a number of years and is once again playing a pivotal role in helping the nation in the current T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies.
And ahead of the Bangladesh Super 8 clash, Stoinis has revealed the devastation he felt when left out of the winning One Day World Cup team last year when Australia defeated India in an epic final. Despite his form trailing off towards the end of last year, Stoinis has always proved his skills for Australia with the bat and ball in big tournaments.
Last year at the World Cup, Australia started off in disastrous fashion having lost the first three games. Australia managed to turn around their fortunes and went on an incredible run to make the World Cup final in India when they came up against the undefeated host's in the showdown.
Stoinis was confident he would be selected for the final until looking at the pitch in Ahmedabad before the final. Stoinis described the pitch as 'shocking' and admitted he was deflated when realising his power hitting abilities might be overlooked for the more calm style of Marnus Labuschagne in the final.
Australia went that way and it proved vital with Labuschagne providing a support role for player-of-the-match Travis Head as he took it to the Indian attack. And while Stoinis was thrilled his team got to lift the trophy, the allrounder admitted he was devastated not to have taken part in the game.
"Obviously it was between me and Marnus depending on the type of wicket that was going to be produced. To be honest, it hurt a lot," Stoinis said on the Unplayable Podcast when he found out he wasn't selected.
Stoinis was left ruing the pitch, which did not favour his power-hitting game, when hoping to feature in the trophy decider. "We all saw the wicket before (the game) and it looked shocking. It played OK, but it didn't look great at all. So that did frustrate me, in that you would love to rock up to the World Cup with a belting wicket," Stoinis said of the conditions.
"That frustrated me – but that also means I'm not frustrated at the coaches or anything like that. It ended up playing OK, but looking at it, it just shows that none of us know what wickets are doing. I was like, 'That's going to do everything'."
Stoinis admitted hearing he was dropped from his friend, and coach, Andrew McDonald helped soften the blow. The 34-year-old admitted he does not feel like he has to find motivation when it comes to playing for Australia, but he can certainly use that feeling when it comes to giving it his all in the current T20 World Cup.
Stoinis currently sits third in the list of top run scorers with 156 runs off four innings at this year's T20 World Cup. He also sits at the top of the list for highest strike rate on 190.24 and third in sixes hit.
While Stoinis' inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad raised some eyebrows, after a lean run in 2023, he has the backing of his teammates. "He has played really well over the last couple of months," Head said of Stoinis.
"It's really good to see. It's obviously a hugely important role through the middle there with Maxwell, Stoinis, Tim David and Wade." Head said the slower wickets favour Stoinis as the big allrounder is able to use his power in the middle order to dictate the bowlers around the field.
