Here's why Marcus Stoinis carried hulk action figure to post-match presentation

Delhi Capitals (DC), on Sunday, November 8, managed to qualify for the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the first time in their 13-year long history. Shreyas Iyer and Co defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 17 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi to make history. One of the main reasons behind DC’s dominance in the match was Australia’s Marcus Stoinis.

He has tasted a truckload of success, opening the batting for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL) over the years. This time around, he opened the batting for DC and it paid dividends as he scored 38 runs off 27 balls with the help of five fours and one six. Along with Shikhar Dhawan, he laid the platform for a blistering finish. That he played at a strike-rate of 140.74 showed his fluency.

Rashid Khan rattled his woodwork to cut short his stay in the ninth over. Stoinis didn’t finish there as he picked up three crucial wickets when the Sunrisers were chasing 190 in 20 overs. In his very first over, he got rid of Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey, who both perished in a quest to up the scoring rate. The double strike in the fifth over reduced the Orange Army to 44 for three in five overs.

Then in the 17th over, he got the all-important wicket of Kane Williamson, who scored 67 runs off 45 balls. He finished with a spell of 3-0-26-3. It didn’t spring a surprise that he was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his all-round show with bat and ball. Apart from his performance on the field, the 31-year-old also caught the limelight when he was seen, carrying a toy figure of the Hulk.

The reason behind Marcus Stoinis carrying the figurine

Stoinis took the same to the post-match presentation ceremony. The man from Perth looks up to Hulk as an inspiration. The Hulk- a character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby- is a superhero featuring in the Marvel Comics. The Hulk’s role is played by Bruce Banner, a theoretical physicist.

Marcus Stoinis prefers to celebrate like the hulk after he picks up wickets, flexing his muscles. In the Qualifier 2, the right-hander indeed put forth a hulk-like show and helped his team set up the finals clash with Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday. In IPL 2020, Marcus has 352 runs to go with 12 wickets.

Meet The Hulk – Marcus Stoinis@MStoinis reveals the mystery behind the Hulk action figure, his pumped up celebrations & his all-round show against #SRH. DO NOT MISS – Captain @ShreyasIyer15 doing a fun Stoinis impersonation 😅

WATCH 👉https://t.co/mSmIcFkpOe #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/8B685LP4Jw

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 9, 2020