I wanted to sign for Lucknow was to help build something from scratch: Marcus Stoinis

It was a new beginning for Marcus Stoinis in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as he plied his trade for the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Stoinis was one of three players the franchise picked ahead of the mega-auction. 

Lucknow started IPL 2022 as one of the strong contenders, but their campaign came to an end following a 14-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Eliminator. Stoinis also had a below-average season as he didn't contribute much to the team's success.

The Australian star scored only 156 runs in 11 games at a strike rate of 147.17 and an average of 19.50. The all-rounder picked just four wickets at an average of 19.75 and an economy rate of 11.29. 

Marcus is excited for his stint with the franchise despite a poor season in the coming two years. In an interview with Cricbuzz, the 32-year-old also reflected on his reasons behind leaving Delhi Capitals (DC). However, the factor that attracted the all-rounder the most to LSG was a chance to build a team from scratch and leave a legacy like Shane Warne. 

"For cricket, the things that excite me the most are the World Cups coming up. And the IPL with this new franchise. The big reason I wanted to sign for Lucknow was to help build something from scratch. Have a blank canvas to work with, in the company of someone like KL Rahul and Sanjeev, to build something you can look back on in 10-15 years," Stoinis said during the interview.

"No one else gets this opportunity to start at a new franchise apart from - I think back to Warnie and how he started with Rajasthan and what he did there. How he's still an integral part of that team and how he helped build that culture," added the Australian all-rounder.

Further, the Australian star player labelled himself as approachable. Marcus Stoinis believes that his efforts to form good relationships in the IPL in his early days have helped him immensely. 

The all-rounder revealed that his earlier camaraderie with Shreyas Iyer helped him play under the Indian cricketer when Iyer became the Delhi Capitals skipper. 

"I think so. I've probably noticed it more in the last couple of years, especially with the IPL. And it's probably because I've not changed too much. When I first went to the IPL 6-7 years ago, I was pretty much this young kid who was happy to be there, happy to do whatever was needed, almost on training camp every year because I wasn't playing that much cricket,"

"And a lot of the guys I was playing with there, whether it was Shreyas Iyer, who ended up being my captain later down the track at Delhi, I built those relationships with them since we were young - since he was probably 18 and I was 22. As I've gone back, I have noticed that now that I'm a bit older and playing a different role in the IPL, those relationships have helped," Stoinis concluded.