Marcus Stoinis

A powerful, versatile batter and medium-pace bowler, Marcus Stoinis has been a mainstay in Australia's limited-overs sides, a dominant presence in the BBL, and a sought-after IPL performer.

Stoinis debuted for his home state, Western Australia, at 19, but found opportunities limited there and moved to Victoria, where he got a run in their Sheffield Shield side in 2013-14 and produced an outstanding 170 against Tasmania, a breakthrough innings that led to him becoming a regular in the top order. Stoinis was Victoria's leading run-scorer in the 2014-15 Sheffield Shield season and was called up to Australia's squad for limited-overs matches against England in 2015, where he debuted, playing an ODI and a T20I.

He next played an international about a year and a half later, having impressed in first-class cricket in the interim. In his second ODI, Stoinis took three wickets and scored 146 not out from No. 7 to help Australia almost pull off an unlikely victory against New Zealand at Eden Park. That innings gave him an unbroken run in the white-ball sides for about four years, during which time he cemented his position as one of the team's top finishers.

That is also the role he has played in the IPL, featuring in all of Delhi Capitals' games in their run to the final in 2020, and doing likewise with Lucknow Super Giants in 2023. In between, Stoinis helped guide Australia to a win in the 2021 T20 World Cup, putting on a remarkable stand of 81 with Matthew Wade in the semi-final against Pakistan after Australia were in strife at 96 for 5 chasing 177. In the BBL he spent timing opening, which including hitting a remarkable 147 off 79 balls against Sydney Sixers in 2020, before returning to the middle order.

Stoinis moved back to Western Australia in 2017 for family reasons and was a regular in the first-class side for three seasons, though his returns were middling; he next played when he briefly figured in the title-winning WA side in 2022-23. Stoinis briefly pushed into Test contention in 2017 and 2019.

- Marcus Stoinis came into the IPL after Delhi Capitals (DC, then Delhi Daredevils) bought him for INR 25 lakh before IPL 2015, but he did not get a game that season. Punjab Kings (PBKS, then Kings XI Punjab) snapped him up for INR 55 lakh in the IPL 2016 auction after that.

- An allrounder who can hit the long ball is a valued asset in T20s, and Stoinis saw his stocks rise soon. Kings took back Stoinis by using the Right-to-Match option for INR 6.2 crore after putting him back into the IPL 2017 auction pool.

- After two middling campaigns, Stoinis was traded to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), but failed to nail down a spot. DC signed him again in 2020, and in his first season back, he scored 352 runs as they reached the final.

- Ahead of the IPL 2022 auction, Stoinis was one of Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) pre-auction picks, and helped them make the playoffs in both their first two seasons. He was crucial for them in IPL 2023, forming a mighty middle order with Nicholas Pooran. He scored 408 runs at a strike rate of 150 and chipped in with five wickets.