Marcus Stoinis is a unique player: Sandeep Sharma

The Kings XI Punjab got their IPL campaign back on track with a 9-wicket win over the Delhi Daredevils at Mohali. Sandeep Sharma, their not so young starlet has come out all praises for the stars of the show Marcus Stoinis, Mohit Sharma, and Wriddhiman Saha. He stated that Stoinis was indeed a uniquely gifted player who had adapted to Indian conditions quite exceptionally.

“He (Stoinis) is a unique player. He has adapted very well to Indian conditions. It’s the first time he’s coming to play in India. Today he made a fifty and obviously his bowling was top class. He’s become an asset for Kings XI now,” an elated Sandeep told media after the team’s third win of the tournament.

“When we made 180 runs we had confidence that we could win this match because our bowling has been doing well and we have been bowling well at the death,” he said.

“I think the turning point was Stoinis’s wickets. The wicket of Billings particularly, he got that and went for less than six runs in that over. And in the next over, Mohit Sharma bowled brilliantly. That was the turning point. When I came to bowl, there were plenty of runs and I had to only save two or three balls for us to win the match,” he explained.

Sandeep Sharma also added that his side played some good cricket over the course of the match. He also stated that they have seemingly stumbled upon the right kind of combination.

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“We’ve have been playing good cricket. We came close in a few matches but lost. I think we have now got the right combination and the captain also know how to use bowlers. Our batting is also clicking. Like Maxwell and Miller they didn’t make runs at the start of the tournament, but now they’re also making runs. So that’s a positive sign for us,” Sandeep noted.

“It’s a team game, and we have been bowling well. We’ve been doing that consistently and hopefully we can carry that forward through the tournament,” he added.

“T20 is a momentum game. If you have the momentum, you win more games in a row. We had played well against Kolkata and even before that we defeated Gujarat when they were at the top of the table. So I think we have got the momentum now. And again like I said, our combination has settled well and our batsmen are also clicking. Hopefully, we can win more matches in the tournament,” the 22-year-old said.

“We aren’t thinking in terms of qualifying or not in this tournament or where we are in the (points) table. The most important thing is to take it match by match and prepare well for each match. If we play good cricket and win, we’ll automatically rise on the table. But the important thing is to focus match by match,” he concluded.