Australia vs Sri Lanka 2019 : Aaron Finch reveals the reason behind Marcus Stoinis' exclusion from the T20I squad

Australian captain Aaron Finch has spoken about all-rounder Marcus Stoinis’ omission from the T20I squad in a recent interview. The skipper praised Stoinis’ form in the batting department but; he claimed that there is no vacancy in the top order of the Australian T20 team.

The 2010 T20 World Cup finalists had declared their squad for the forthcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan on 8th October, 2019. The biggest story emerging from the squad announcement was Marcus Stoinis’ exclusion.

It was flabbergasting to see Stoinis not receiving a place in the team despite being a match winner in the shortest format of the game. Reacting to that move, Finch told 6PR -

"Marcus has been a player who's played really well at the top of the order for the Melbourne Stars for the last couple of years. The reality is that there's just not that spot available in the top order at the moment."

He added that Ashton Agar’s progress in the batting department meant that Stoinis was surplus to the demands of the Australian team. Finch heaped praises on Agar and continued,

"Ashton Agar has improved a hell of a lot over the last few years as well. So he's going to be that guy, (he) almost changed our mindset around that fast-bowling allrounder. When we've got a really good strong squad of fast bowlers, we've sort of changed our mindset to that allrounder being a spinner. That's also just (about) the balance of the side."

Marcus Stoinis' record in T20Is

Marcus Stoinis is yet to replicate his league form with the Australian national side.

While Marcus Stoinis has good numbers in league cricket, the all-rounder is yet to produce a significant performance for the Australian team. He has played 19 T20Is in his career where he has aggregated mere 136 runs at an ordinary average of 15.11. Also, his strike rate of 116.24 shows how much he has struggled at the international level.

In the bowling department, the Melbourne Stars player has grabbed nine wickets in 15 innings at a costly economy rate of 8.32. It looks like Ashton Agar’s rise forced the selectors to drop Stoinis and opt for a better option.

Also see – World Test Championship points table