A one-format player now, 35-year-old Australia and Punjab Kings all-rounder Marcus Stoinis wants to push boundaries by playing for long and he says, a ready reckoner in how to do it has already been created by 40-plus stalwarts like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Faf du Plessis.
The cricketing world was left surprised with his decision to retire from ODIs ahead of the Champions Trophy but in a conversation with PTI, the player from Perth said he took the call after due deliberation and it was the only way he could prolong his career.
With absolute clarity about his future, he now wants to put all his energies into playing T20 cricket for Australia and around the world. On top of his wish-list is featuring in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"Yeah, absolutely. I still am going to be available playing international cricket for Australia in the T20 format. It was just a decision to step away from one-day cricket, which, look, with the one-day World Cup still quite a distance away (2027)," said Stoinis when asked if he has made peace with his decision.
"I'm a competitor and I want to be playing for as long as I can. And I think that decision allows me to have more longevity and play rather than trying to squeeze everything into my calendar.
"T20 is my bread and butter...That's where my skills are best utilized," added the all-rounder who returns to Punjab Kings after almost a decade.
He is still more than four years away from entering 40s but what Du Plessis (Delhi Capitals) and Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) are able to do at their age is inspiring for Stoinis, who too is supremely fit and is among the hardest hitters of the cricket ball.
"I really enjoy the cricket side of things, but I also enjoy the lifestyle of being healthy, being ready to go. Someone like Faf Du Plessis, you see him at 40. He's in as good a shape as ever.
"His energy is high as ever. I mean, that's a nice blueprint for me, I think. And we're probably pretty similar like that. So, that's where I see my career. We're in a great era to be able to play longer.
"Even guys like MS... especially in T20 that we thought maybe in the past was a young person's game. It's shown that the experience, the calm head, all that sort of stuff."
Stoinis is excited by the prospect of a long career.
"Longevity of being in sport is something that really excites me, that challenge," said Stonis, who could never play Test cricket despite having decent first-class experience.
Coming from a sporting nation like Australia, Stoinis' eyes lit up at the mention of cricket's return to the Olympics after 128 years.
"I would love to be there. What an exciting time for cricketers. Cricket's just going from strength to strength around the world in general, but then to have it in the Olympics, it is awesome."
Being a world class all-rounder himself, Stoinis agrees with the likes of Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma who have expressed their reservations about the Impact Player rule in the IPL. He too feels that it affects the development of young players with multi-dimensional skills.
"To be honest, I think it does diminish the usefulness of an all-rounder. And it does mean that it's very hard for an all-rounder to get into the team unless you're used as the impact player. I would think for Indian cricket, you'd want to develop your all-rounders as fast as possible.
Stoinis also supported BCCI's decision to introduce two-year bans for overseas players if they pull out at the last minute, something that England's Harry Brook did this year.
"Look, once you're committed and in such a big competition where teams are building around individuals and that sort of thing, it (the ban) does make sense if it's still worked in conjunction with the person that's pulling out," he added.
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