Marcus Stoinis to get longer run to evolve into finisher like MS Dhoni: Pat Cummins

In the first T20I where hosts England took on Australia at Rose Bowl, the home side booked the first match in their favour by winning it by two runs. The Kangaroos are going through several rounds of planning and discussion so that they put up a dominating show in the coming T20I. In the same light, their vice-captain Pat Cummins stated that their team is giving a thought to give all-rounder Marcus Stoinis a longer run so that he can develop into a great finisher matching the stature of Indian skipper MS Dhoni.

Stoinis’ 23* off 18 in first T20I wasn’t enough to drive Australia on the path of victory, and they slipped from 124/2 to 148/6, losing the match eventually. Though the visitors have top-class players to decorate their top-order, the middle-order is still a concern for them wherein a player is needed that can finish things in great style.

“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 3-400 ODI games. You saw during this week’s practice games we gave a lot of guys a go in that,” said Cummins as quoted by Sydney Morning Herald.

We know it’s not going to happen overnight: Pat Cummins

Plying his trade like an opener, the 31-year-old scored 705 runs for Melbourne Stars to set himself at the top slot in BBL runs charts in the previous season. However, failing to rotate strike properly at the beginning of innings pushed him out of the World Cup 2019.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about for exactly that reason — they’re all the best players when they go back to playing domestic camps.” The vice-captain was of the opinion that the team is still giving time to its players to cement their positions, and he accepts that it’s not going to happen overnight.

“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,” concluded the pacer.