Australin all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who is part of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) squad in the ongoing IPL 2025 season, has showered rich praise on Virat Kohli, hailing the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) talisman as an inspiration for the entire global cricketing community.

Stoinis opened up on his rapport with Kohli and explained how the Indian star has set an unparalleled standard of fitness and dedication for aspiring cricketers worldwide.

In an interaction with news agency PTI, Stoinis revealed how their bond traces back to a mutual friend and expressed his admiration for Kohli’s illustrious career, which he has closely followed since their days at the 2008 U19 World Cup.

"We've known each other for a long time. We've got a mutual friend in Perth that has known him for a long time as well. So that's sort of how that relationship started. But yeah, what a great career it's been so far. It's definitely not finished. It seems like he's worn a few caps throughout his career in terms of being the young guy coming into an Indian team that forced his way in there at such a young age and showed such confidence in himself to crack into such a good team to then leading the team and almost changing the whole culture of Indian cricket and inspiring a lot of the young cricketers around India and around the world," Stoinis said.

"And then a whole new phase of the fitness side of things as well that he inspired in the Indian set-up to now mentoring the new kids on the block. And he's got his family now as well. I think all of those phases have served a purpose, not only for himself, but as a mentor for the wider public and the cricket community. So always hats off to him, to be honest," he added.

Stoinis also acknowledged depth of talent in Indian cricket, highlighting how the IPL has played a critical role in nurturing them and preparing them for the highest level.

"There's great depth here (in Indian cricket). There always has been. And I think they're getting the chance to show their skills on a world stage...They are super confident. They've had almost the advantage of growing up with IPL, being under pressure from early stages in their career. It's brilliant to see how fearless they are with their cricket and especially (while playing for) Indian cricket (team)," Stoinis remarked.

Talking about Kohli, he played a match-winning knock of 59* in 36 balls during RCB’s campaign opener against KKR at the Eden Gardens on March 22. His next challenge will be against CSK at Chepauk on March 28.