Marcus Stoinis explains late arrival to Punjab Kings after IPL 2025 resumption

Punjab Kings (PBKS) lost to Delhi Capitals (DC) by 6 wickets in a high-voltage IPL 2025 clash played on Saturday (May 24). Marcus Stoinis was in the limelight during the match even after being on the losing side. The Punjab Kings all-rounder came to bat at seventh position and played an aggressive innings to guide his team to a total of 206/8. He smashed 44 runs off just 16 balls during the game.

Stoinis missed the team’s first game after the resumption of the tournament from a week-long break. He revealed the reason for returning late.

Marcus Stoinis shared the reason behind his absence

Marcus Stoinis was not present in the Punjab Kings’ last game against Rajasthan Royals. He arrived late after the restart of IPL 2025 and missed the match that PBKS won by 10 runs. The Australian star player returned in the game against DC and spoke to broadcasters during the mid-innings break. He revealed that he was diagnosed with Covid-19.

“I didn’t have any net practice before this game. Unfortunately, I had Covid-19 which we don’t speak about much anymore,” Stoinis expressed.

“It was a nice welcome home. I rested at my home and then came back here,” he added.

Marcus Stoinis on approach for bowlers in the game

Marcus Stoinis was unbeaten with 44 runs including three boundaries and four sixes. He played at a strike rate of 275.

“It’s always difficult when you go out in the middle at the end and go one mode. It was good for me there. I was surprised that they didn’t bowl much slower balls as I was setting up quite early. That’s probably something we could do. It’s a really good surface,” he said.

“The wicket was holding a bit but I was swinging it early. The wind is coming from the longer part of the boundary. I think it’s worth using that breeze.” he added.

Can the Punjab Kings claim the top two spots?

PBKS are currently second in the IPL 2025 Points table with 17 points and an NRR of +0.327. They are below Gujarat Titans (18 points) and above Royal Challengers Bengaluru (17 points, +0.255 NRR) and Mumbai Indians (16 points).

The Shreyas Iyer-led team will want to win their final league stage match against MI and claim two points to reach a total of 19 points. They will also want RCB to finish with a comparatively lower NRR to cement their place in the top two.