Marcus Stoinis insists he puts India tour ahead of the Ashes

Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is amongst the players who have enhanced their reputation on the ongoing tour of India. Stoinis will take the pitch on Thursday’s fourth ODI in Bengaluru, boasting a career batting average of almost 95 from six matches, which has been boosted by unbeaten knocks of 62 and 27 in the last two games. And the 28-year-old says he’s focusing on playing ODIs rather than making his debut in the Ashes debut this summer.

With an unbeaten 146 in Auckland earlier this year, Stroinis has successfully proven that he is far from a flash in the pan. Also, confident performance against a top-notch Indian attack in this series has put him in contention to take the No.6 spot in the Test side this summer. State teammates former and current – Glenn Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright – are the leading contenders to fill that role against England, but Stoinis could push his way to the front of the queue in the final two games of this series and the first three JLT Sheffield Shield matches leading into the Tests.

Moises Henriques amongst favourites

Speaking to the reporters at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday, Stoinis revealed, “Obviously (those games) are probably pretty important to play the Ashes. But at the moment I’m not really thinking about that. There are two games left in this series and it’s a chance to start some momentum for the summer. All the focus is on that for the team.”

The dynamic all-rounder replaced an injured Mitchell Marsh ahead of Australia’s Test in India earlier this year but was overlooked in favour of Cartwright for the recent Test tour of Bangladesh.

While he wasn’t drawn on recent selection permutations, Stoinis said his form on this tour gave him confidence that he belonged in international cricket. Another Australian who is speculated to fill in the allrounder spot in Australia’s Test side in NSW Blues captain Moises Henriques.