The allrounder has invested in himself, taking a lead from India's star players, and is travelling with his own personal chef
How Stoinis is cooking up a World Cup storm
Velton Saldanha, a Mumbai-born chef trained in French cuisine, has worked in multiple Michelin star restaurants. It is unlikely his latest concoction – baked oats infused with protein, firm on top with a soft underbelly – would make the menu at any of them.
"I could have that everyday for the rest of my life. You know when they ask, 'what's the last meal you'd have?' Protein oats from Velts," said Marcus Stoinis, skipping a beat before adding: "Or Mum's bacon and eggs."
Shane Warne famously got through long tours of India eating baked beans on toast. Stoinis is getting by on baked oats – at least for the small carbohydrate portion of his meticulously curated diet.
"I made it up for Marcus, and now he makes me make it every day for him," said Saldanha. "Unless I freak out and tell him the only carbs he has can't just be oats – you need to have other things. He listens to me and he trusts me in that way."
By the end of the World Cup, Saldanha might be able to sell the 'Stoinis Oats' as a standalone dish.
The 31-year-old, who has worked in fine-dining restaurants in Chicago and New York, is Stoinis' personal chef while he is India. The pair first linked up during this year's Indian Premier League on a recommendation from his Lucknow Supergiants teammate, and India star, KL Rahul.
The Australian team already has its own chef, who oversees food preparation as they move around the country, but Stoinis has gone a step further in his pursuit of peak performance. Saldanha travels with Stoinis while he is in India and cooks him meals out of the team's hotel kitchens.
Saldanha first met Stoinis early during this year's IPL. "I got in from the airport at Chennai to the hotel about 8.30pm, and at 9.50pm I served him his first meal. It was really quick," he said. "I asked him what he'd been eating and he's like, 'Just eggs, bro'.
Stoinis is a little more strict about what he eats than Warne was. The allrounder is on a ketogenic diet (high-fat, low-carb) and is particular about what goes into his body and when.
Garlic naan is out. Gluten-free banana bread and shepherd's pie with roasted cauliflower mash are in. A roast butter chicken, the intersection of Saldanha's French training and his Indian heritage, has also been a hit.
"Quite a few of the Indian boys do it, that's where I got the idea," Stoinis, speaking about his decision to hire Saldanha, told cricket.com.au's Unplayable Podcast.
"I've always been quite strict with my food and all that stuff in my preparation."
Stoinis has struggled to get the on park consistently in this tournament, missing the opening match with a hamstring and quad concern before a calf niggle has emerged more recently.
He is confident his dedication to fitness will pay off in the long run.
"I want to play for as long as I can. I want to take control of as many things as I can through my cricketing career," said the 34-year-old, who is in line to return to Australia's XI against England on Saturday.
"We travel a lot and we're obviously away from our comfort zone. We're in different time zones. we're in different beds, we're in different hotels – we're not exactly by the beach in Perth, having a coffee and that sort of stuff.
"So I'm more than happy to invest in myself and in my environment. I don't see that stuff, which some people do, as a waste (of money).
"I'm happy to invest in my own chef or invest my own batting coach or invest my own sports psychologist – that's just the way I see things."
Saldanha, who started his own chutney company during the pandemic, has worked for Bollywood stars and some of the wealthiest people in India. He reckons Stoinis is the most disciplined customer he has had.
"It's a cricketer and a chef, but he's the nicest client you could have, honestly," said Saldanha. "But I hate that he makes me make him baked oats every day."
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Beat Pakistan by 62 runs
October 25: Beat Netherlands by 309 runs
October 28: Beat New Zealand by five runs
November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points