New Zealand players are cricket’s nice guys: Brendon Mccullum

Brendon McCullum has been one of the greatest players of the modern day game and his contribution the New Zealand cricket remains unmatched and unparalleled. On his day, he hammered the opposition with ease and scored runs at a great pace. But above all, he is known for forging New Zealand team’s reputation. He ensured that his bat did all the talking and did not shout out or express his emotions on the field.

A selfless servant of the game

The Kiwi legend is known for glittering the tournament in the first match of the IPL that was held 10 years ago. McCullum had smashed 158 runs for Kolkata Knight Riders to provide a grand opening to the richest tournament and ensured that cricket fans do not forget the breathtaking innings.

“It’s gone so fast, it is hard to imagine it was 10 years ago. We didn’t know what was going to happen and how the tournament was going to unfold. That 158  — it’s not normal to do that. For the first few years, it took me a while to deal with the expectation of that — not just from other people but myself as well — and to realize that that was one of those days that does not come around very often.” McCullum was quoted as saying by sportstarlive.com.

McCullum has been a part of the IPL in each of the editions and is currently associated with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. “Virat (Kohli) and I, our relationship is very good. The first thing I did when I arrived spoke to him. I said, ‘I’ll throw a whole lot of ideas at you. You don’t feel like you have to use any of them.’ But myself and AB and Quinton, who is a very astute thinker of the game, we’ll give him ideas.” he added. The Kiwi star played a handy knock in the first game but eventually ended up on the losing side.

Setting high standards for other nations

The New Zealanders are called the nice guys of cricket and McCullum had a big role in establishing that reputation. Apart from establishing the Kiwis as a team to beat, they were also known to always remain under the spirit of the game.

“Early on in my career, I was definitely…[different]. I’m very fortunate I had longevity so I was able to come out the other side and actually realize that we’re all trying to do the same thing on the field. Both teams are trying to win. But you can actually act in a decent manner as well. We want our team to be a representation of our country…which is [a country of] humble, hard-working people. That’s what we tried to replicate in New Zealand. And we had a lot of fun doing it.” he added.

New Zealand’s style of play is being hailed as the way to go forward after the Cape Town incident. They have set huge standards for the rest of the nations to follow and it will go a long way in adding positives to the game of cricket.

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