As the highly-anticipated Indian Premier League Mega Auctions were going on in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Australian international Marcus Stoinis was gearing up to step out on to the field for the two-time Champions Deccan Gladiators in the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10, the eighth edition of the league.
The Gladiators were playing against the defending champions New York Strikers on Sunday in a repeat of last year's final, and just before the start of the match at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Stoinis caught the news that he had been acquired by Punjab Kings for Rs 11 crore.
"I fortunately just got to see as I was going on to the field," Stoinis said after the match in which the Gladiators defeated their opposition by 68 runs.
"IPL Auctions are always chaos. As a player you never know where you are going to end up. It is very lucky for me to end up with Punjab Kings under Head Coach Ricky Ponting. That is super exciting. I have not checked my phone, I have not spoken to anyone yet. But I could really not be happier.
Stoinis is enjoying his stint in T10, having already scored an unbeaten 42 off 16 balls in one of the matches. Lower down the middle-order, Stoinis is garnering key partnerships with Jos Buttler.
With a deep batting line-up Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rilee Roussouw, Nicholas Pooran, Jos Buttler, David Wiese, along with Stoinis, Gladiators have maintained their 100 percent win record in the first four games.