Marcus Stoinis is among the foremost T20 all-rounders in the world and the Australian says that he had some help adjusting to the Indian Premier League (IPL) from one of the pioneers of the format. The 36-year-old said in a video on the ICC’s social media handles that Yuvraj was a mentor for him when the pair shared a dressing room in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I played with Yuvraj Singh in the IPL. Although I was playing with him, I describe him more as a mentor. I was quite young, and he was obviously very experienced,” he said. Stoinis and Yuvraj played for the Punjab Kings in the 2018 season of the IPL. While it was only Stoinis’s third season in the tournament, it was Yuvraj’s 10th and penultimate IPL season.
“Super talented, elegant, powerful. Not the typical power that maybe is on highlight around the world today. It was a more relaxed, rhythmical power. Very nice guy, very helpful. I mean, to a young overseas player coming to the IPL, he was very good to me. Nothing but absolute respect,” added Stoinis.
Yuvraj was part of the Indian team that won the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup, famously hitting six sixes in an over in a match against England in the tournament. He was then the star of India’s succesfull 2011 World Cup campaign, being declared player of the tournament with 362 runs and 15 wickets.
In the IPL, Yuvraj was the captain of the Punjab Kings, then called the Kings XI Punjab, in the inaugural 2008 season. He spent three seasons with the franchise before moving to the erstwhile Pune Warriors India for two season. Yuvraj then spent a season each at RCB and Delhi Capitals, then called Delhi Daredevils before playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad for two seasons. He returned to the Punjab Kings in the 2018 season and played for Mumbai Indians in his final season in 2019.
