Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum: The Kiwi Game Changer

Born on 27th September 1981, Brendon McCullum went on to play 332 international matches for the Kiwis. He played 101 Tests and 260 Odis. Looking at his stats, he comes off as an average player with a batting average of 38.64 in test matches and 30 in Odis. But those who have watched him play closely and experienced his captaincy would certainly know how good of a player he was. He was probably one of the best captains ever if not the best.

McCullum started as a wicket keeper batter and then later on in his career he focused only on his batting. He was purely known for his batting; however, you can’t deny the fact that he was a proper wicket keeper too. His first few centuries came against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh which was then followed by a 96 against England in Lords aka The Holiest Site of Cricket. The turning point in his career was when he scored a century followed by a double century against India. After this his career went uphill. He was consistently scoring runs in all three formats up until late 2012, when finally McCullum was bestowed with an opportunity to become the captain of the New Zealand Cricket Team. When he became the captain, New Zealand was struggling as a unit. The struggling phase of the Kiwis was well over turned by McCullum’s captaincy. In a nutshell, it can be said that his captaincy was a blessing in disguise for New Zealand.

Moreover, leading the number 8th ranked team in Odis, who were considered as underdogs to almost winning the 2015 World Cup was not an easy feat to achieve. New Zealand were unbeaten the entire tournament until the final match. In that tournament, McCullum, in almost every match gave a flying start to his team and that start would mostly prove to be costly for the opponent team. As everyone knows, he recorded the fastest 50 in a world cup match and that too as an opener. He scored 77 runs of just 25 balls in which he recorded the fastest 50 and he also played a match winning 59 against South Africa in the semifinal. These ultra-aggressive approaches were risky and he wasn’t successful all the time however he has proved that you can’t be successful without taking risks in cricket. McCullum would not care what the opposition plan was or the type of pitch he was playing on; he would just go out there and try to give his best by playing at a higher strike rate. The fact that players down the batting order were able to play freely was only because of the start that McCullum usually gave them.

The team that was bullied by other teams and was inconsistent changed and became one of the best following the 2015 World Cup. This clearly shows the mettle of Brendon McCullum’s captaincy. His captaincy doesn’t just end here, there’s a lot more than his team selection and his aggressive batting. The most important thing that comes is his on-field decisions, the decision that he takes while fielding.

The biggest challenge for any captain is using his bowlers wisely and in a way that would benefit their side and also make bowlers feel comfortable when bowling. McCullum’s strategy, regarding his bowlers, was successful in the 2015 World Cup. He would allocate overs in such a way that it would become difficult for the opposition team to implement their plans. McCullum’s main plan was not to stop the flow of runs, he would not care even if the bowlers are bowling at an economy rate of more than 8 and he would just focus on how to get the batsmen out. This plan would remain the same no matter how well the batsman is playing or how the pitch is behaving. If a bowler is bowling well, he would not save his overs for the death, he would rather prefer using up his overs so that the bowler could get the batsman out. Usually, captains would think ahead and prefer saving some overs of their best bowlers so that they could make a comeback later on in the innings, it was however completely opposite in McCullum’s case. And he was quite successful at this. If you see New Zealand’s matches in the 2015 world cup you would get what we’re trying to say.

Now let’s come to his field placements, as you know McCullum has laid down a plan for his team that he will take risks and play aggressive cricket. Keeping this thing in mind McCullum also sets a field for his bowlers that support his plan. Captain McCullum wouldn’t mind having 3 or 4 slips when the bowler is looking for a wicket or he wouldn’t even mind having a short leg as a surprise for a well-set batter. He was not predictable when it came to his bowlers and field placements. I’m telling this because this mindset and approach also motivated the team altogether and motivation is an important thing for players especially for newcomers.

Every team can produce good players but to become a successful cricket team you need to have a good captain who is aggressive in his approach and is always ready to take risk just like Baz.