Australia Looking To Groom Marcus Stoinis As A Finisher Like MS Dhoni- Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins, Australian fast bowler, has said that the Australian think-tank is looking to groom all-rounder Marcus Stoinis as a finisher in the mold of the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Stoinis struggled his way to an unbeaten 18-ball 23 in the first T20I against England and was unable to see his team through in their run-chase of 163. But Pat Cummins said that the think-tank is looking to give enough chances to the burly all-rounder to adjust to the ‘finishers’ role.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about for exactly that reason — they’re all the best players when they go back to playing domestic comps,” Pat Cummins was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

“You could argue that the middle-order role is one of the hardest in any cricket team. That’s what we’ve identified, we’ve got to give guys a go. Someone like MS Dhoni, he was one of the best in the world because he played 300-400 ODI games. You saw during this week’s practice games we gave a lot of guys a go in that.” Cummins added.

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‘We’ll identify roles and give them a long run in that”- Pat Cummins

The Australian fast bowler also said that the team-management has identified different roles for different players and it is will important to give them a longer rope so that they can adjust the specific role and perform it on a consistent basis.

“We know it’s not going to happen overnight. That’s been a common theme that selectors and Finchy have spoken about: we’ll identify roles and give them a long run in that,” Pat Cummins said.

“I think we’ve got the right squad, the right players, it’s about getting plenty of games into everyone now,” the pace spearhead said,” Pat Cummins added.

Australia bottled their run-chase big time in the opening T20I of the three-match series against England on Friday. Needing 163 to win, the tourists were comfortably placed at 1-124 when a collapse ensued that saw them lose their next four wickets for a mere nine runs.

In the end, it was left to Marcus Stoinis to finish the job but the right-hander faltered big time, finishing with an unbeaten 18-ball 23 as the Aussies fell 2 runs short of the target.

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