Brendon McCullum, A Rare Find

Although he is leaving his team in able hands, there is no doubt that a character such as McCullum would be very hard to find again and his role would thus, be very hard to fill in...

- Bhavesh Bhimani

Men like Brendon McCullum are very rare. A fine leader of men who always led from the front and inculcated in his team the belief to be world beaters, an aggressive and swashbuckling batsman who could change the course of the game in a few minutes and a cricketer with not a single negative bone in his body. Yes, men like Brendon McCullum are indeed very rare. And it is because of these immensely remarkable traits that he had that the cricket world would sorely miss him as the 34-year-old has bidden farewell to international cricket in February this year.

Sunil Gavaskar, the legendary Indian opener, always says one thing about the retirement of sportspersons: “Leave when they ask ‘Why’ and not ‘When” Perhaps as a testimony to that, McCullum, in his last international game, scored the fastest international hundred – off 54 balls – in Test history. His knock was that much more crucial as it came at a time when his team was reeling at 32-3. McCullum’s unforgettable innings of 145 took his team to a respectable score, but could not, eventually, save the match. Regardless, the fearless innings once again showed the world the true influence of McCullum on his team and why the cricketing world would dearly miss this indomitable cricketer.

“I’ll never go down as a great player but I played a role in the team, made some contributions,” McCullum had said to the press before his last match. “I’ve been pretty strong about how I’ve gone about the style of cricket which I’ve tried to play throughout my career.”