Harbhajan Singh Praises Marcus Stoinis: Indian spin legend Harbhajan Singh has come out with a bold statement, saying Lucknow Super Giants and Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is a better hitter of the ball than IPL and Mumbai Indians legend Kieron Pollard.
Stoinis became the first Aussie to score a ton in IPL 2024 when he scored an impressive 124* in 63 balls. Not only that, but he also took his team to victory in a 211-run chase against Chennai Super Kings, the largest in Chinnaswamy Stadium in a T20.
While chasing the massive total, LSG opener Quinton de Kock was dismissed for a duck. Captain KL Rahul soon followed after scoring 16. Marcus Stoinis did start scoring some boundaries from this point on, but the score was 88/3 at the end of 11 overs as Devdutt Paddikal got out.
But from here, Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran stabilised the innings and increased the run rate. When Pooran was dismissed for 34-off-15, LSG was 158/4 in the 17th over. So naturally, Marcus took charge and started slogging some more, eventually reaching his century.
While Deepak Hooda did support him with a quickfire 17 in 6 balls, it was the Marcus Stoinis show, who stuck a six and three boundaries in the tree deliveries in the last over (with a no ball) to win his team the match.
This century also made another 100 strikes in this match obsolete, as Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad also notched up a three-digit score.
Harbhajan Singh Praises Marcus Stoinis
Following Stoinis’ knock, which was a great display of absorbing pressure and stroke playing, Harbhajan Singh sang his praises during a chat with Star Sports, where he also commented on IPL matches.
Bhajji went so far in his praise of Marcus that he declared the Aussie to be a better hitter than his fellow Mumbai Indians alum and current MI batting coach Kieron Pollard.
“He is better than Kieron Pollard when it comes to strength and hitting. Stoinis is a match-winner and played sensibly against Chennai. The best part about his batting is that he likes to hit straight and doesn’t fancy the other areas of the ground,” Singh said.
Pollard has 3412 runs and 69 wickets in 189 IPL matches compared to Stoinis’ 1732 runs and 41 wickets in 90. But what Pollard does not have in the IPL in a ton, where Marcus has him beat.
Having defeated CSK in two consecutive matches, Lucknow Super Giants is fourth on the table with 10 points in eight matches. They will face league leaders Rajasthan Royals in their next match on April 27 in Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium.
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