Brendon McCullum has been in news not only for his prolific run-scoring but also for leading New Zealand cricket to new heights in recent times. On Wednesday, April 1, he was honoured with the country’s top cricket award, the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, during the New Zealand Cricket Awards for the 2014-15 season.
The New Zealand skipper, who has been making a habit of setting the stage on fire, will be looking to carry forward his form into the 2015 edition of the Indian Premier League as Chennai Super Kings make yet another bid for the trophy. Batting at the top of the order for CSK, McCullum was responsible for getting the team off to a good start in Pepsi IPL 2014. With 405 runs from 14 matches he finished as the third highest run-getter for the MS Dhoni-led side in the seventh season.
With 328 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 188.50, McCullum led NZ into the 2015 ICC World Cup final and was also named the captain of the International Cricket Council’s team of the tournament. Besides his contributions with the bat, he was also lauded by experts for his innovative captaincy. Like his CSK captain, Dhoni, McCullum has led his national team from the front and by example and is fast earning a reputation for his on-field calmness.
In February 2014 he became the first New Zealand batsman to score a triple century in Tests and later in the year followed it up with a double century during a Test against Pakistan in Sharjah. In the process, McCullum registered the fastest century scored by a Kiwi batsman as well. He is also the first NZ batsman to score 1000 Test runs in a calendar year.
His exploits with the bat at the top besides his cricket acumen further strengthens CSK which has their captain and Suresh Raina to dominate in the latter half of an innings.
By: IPLT20
