‘The Players Not Playing Are Way More Talented Than Me’: Stoinis Heaps Praise On Team India

“I love playing in India. I love the culture - its unmatched energy. It heightens all your sense,” Stoinis said .

Marcus Stoinis

New Dehi: Australian cricketer Marcus Stoinis came out with an honest admission by terming the Indian players who do not even make the playing XI are far more talented than him. “India is the most talented team in the world. Hands down. The players not playing are way more talented than me,” Stoinis said in the recently released documentary on the Australian team. After Virat Kohli-led Indian team's successful tour to Australia in 2018, in which India won their maiden Test series Down Under (2-1), won the ODI series 2-1 and drew the T20Is 1-1, the side was upbeat of hosting the Aussies for a five-match ODI series on home soil. However, India were given quite the shocker in the 5-match ODI series as the Aussies made a spectacular comeback to clinch the series 3-2 after overcoming a 0-2 deficit early in the series. “I love playing in India. I love the culture - its unmatched energy. It heightens all your senses. If you can harness all that excitement, that energy there is no way you can rock up there and not be motivated to play,” Stoinis further added. In the same documentary, Australian team head coach Justin Langer also said that Indian captain Virat Kohli had got under the skin of his side during India’s hugely successful tour down under in 2018-19. Kohli’s celebrations angered Langer but he could not be expressive about it. “I remember that afternoon (feeling) like a punching bag. We can’t fight back because it felt like we had our hands behind our backs and we just had to take it,” Langer said in Amazon’s recently released docu-series titled ‘The Test’. “You must be feeling the double standards the way their captain is carrying on and we sort of have to be careful. Imagine if we behaved two out of ten (of) that,” he said. “We were 1-0 down but I felt that day Virat was getting under our skin,” Langer added after Kohli gave a send-off to couple of Australian batsmen in the second innings.