Marcus Stoinis has aced the audition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. The all-rounder was at his brutal best against Pakistan in the third and final match of the ODI series in Australia. Stoinis had already played an incredible cameo (21 off 7) in the first game of the series, but his Ninja Stadium knock was the one that might have helped him double his auction price.
Chasing a fairly easy target of 118, which would help Australia whitewash the series, Stoinis smashed 61 runs off just 27 balls. He scored just his fourth half-century against Pakistan, reaching the milestone in just 23 balls. With the IPL 2025 auction in just six days, Stoinis chose to show the franchises what he’s worth.
Why wasn’t Stoinis retained by LSG?
The hard-hitting batter wasn’t retained by the Lucknow Super Giants despite Stoinis’ impressive returns. Since the franchise’s inception, only KL Rahul has scored more runs than the Aussie. This is despite his batting in the middle order. His bowling often gets criticised, but he’s also got 13 wickets for LSG and bowled tough overs for them whenever needed.
However, due to an abundance of talent, LSG decided they wouldn’t retain Stoinis. They decided to give Rs 11 crore each to Ravi Bishnoi and Mayank Yadav instead. For the unaware, Stoinis’ paycheck (Rs 9.6 crore) wasn’t small, and he had done well in IPL 2024 (388 runs at 32.33 while striking at 147.52). LSG probably thought that they’d get him using an RTM (Right to Match) card and therefore paying him Rs 11 crore wasn’t worth it.
Marcus Stoinis’ record for LSG
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | Highest Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 952 | 28.84 | 148.51 | 1 | 5 | 124* |
