Brendon McCullum hails the matured approach to T20 cricket

Former Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum has been one of the first names on the team sheet when it comes to playing T20 cricket. Just by seeing his name appear on the team sheet sends shivers down the spine of many bowlers. However, having announced his retirement from International cricket earlier this year, McCullum seems to laud the so called smarter and conservative approach to T20 cricket. In a recent interaction with the media, McCullum was quoted stating that the Joe Root or the Virat Kohli approach is commendable.

In the recently concluded World T20, Virat Kohli and Joe Root were perhaps the only two players who didn’t smack the ball and also had little or no intention of depositing each and every delivery into the stands.

The explosive opener said, “We are seeing players develop more shots and bowlers have become smarter as well in how they operate and it just adds to you becoming a better player. I think that pushes up your skill levels and it frees guys up in knowing they can play more aggressively now than they used to they can operate at a higher level of risk which I think T20 has certainly done.“

McCullum also added that the skill levels of players must also go up. He also added that it is important for a cricketer to play according to his natural game and adapt the same across all the formats.

The former Kiwi captain said, “Those guys played at a different level altogether, they are incredible cricketers. I think that it is not just about slamming and bashing the ball.

“For certain players like me it is, but for genuine good cricketers they can go and back their basics and just play their own game. For a young kid coming into T20 they need to work out what style of play they want to play, style of player that they want to be and just be real strong all the way through the careers.”

McCullum also added the challenges involved in building a new team. Having been part of a rather settled Chennai Super Kings lineup the previous year, the 34-year old is now part of a whole new team and a whole new franchise.

He said, “Yes, there are going to be challenging but there are also strengths as well because you can start from the ground up. You can come in with fresh ideas and you can build your culture from day one rather than perhaps having a pre-existing culture or even sometimes some poor experiences of the past can also weigh you down as well.”

“So that’s an exciting thing about being part of a new franchise. We have got to go out there and play entertaining cricket, build a really strong support base because of how we play.”

“The way we carry ourselves and the exciting style of cricket that we play, hopefully, we go on to win the tournament, but we can’t guarantee that. But what we can guarantee is we can go out there and be nice and positive; play the game for the right reasons and hopefully build a good fan base as well. ”

McCullum, who retired earlier this year, reflected on the past few months, “It’s been an interesting year having retired from international cricket. I had a great time in the last three years of my career which were among the greatest three years of my life.

“It was a really cool time to be involved and obviously building the New Zealand team and having some success there and just being part of a team which you always hoped to be a part of. The fun that we had as a group (was good). We weren’t always successful, but we played the game in the right spirit and for the right reasons and we had a great time along the way.”

“So I look back on it fondly. And I will be a long time supporter of all those guys and the environment at the moment.”

The buccaneering right-hander also divulged the mantra of his new franchise Gujarat Lions and signed off, “We just want to be as positive and entertaining as we possibly can. Have a lot of fun along the way, carry ourselves really well and play a nice aggressive brand of cricket.”

“If we can do that, stick to that under pressure, then we are going to be a tough team to beat.”

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