Brendon McCullum

Some lesser known facts about Brendon McCullum

• Does Brendon McCullum smoke?: Yes

• Does Brendon McCullum drink alcohol?: Yes

• His father, Stuart, is a former Cricket player who played 75 first-class matches for Otago.

• Under his captaincy, for the first ever time, New Zealand reached the finals of the World Cup (2015).

• McCullum’s tryst with Cricket began in the year 1996, when he played for the Otago U-17’s.

• McCullum holds the record for the most runs by a Kiwi batsman in an U-19 test match. He smashed 186 runs against South Africa U-19 in 2001.

• His IPL debut couldn’t have been better. Playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), McCullum smacked 158* off just 73 balls against the Royal Challenger’s Bangalore (RCB) in the very first match of the IPL tournament in 2008. He scored another unbeaten 158, 7 years laters, for Birmingham Bears (Warwickshire). Interestingly, this time he took only 64 deliveries.

• Although McCullum had to give up the gloves because of an incessant backache, the time that he spent behind the wickets was enough for him to reach milestones and set records. With a combined tally of 462 ‘caught behinds’ across all formats in International Cricket, McCullum is New Zealand’s best wicket-keeper to date.

• When McCullum replaced Ross Taylor as the full-time captain, New Zealand were placed eighth in the Test rankings and ninth in ODIs. Within three years, his unmatched leadership skills took them to the top three in both Tests and ODIs.

• McCullum is an occasional columnist for the English News outlet, The Daily Mail. In addition, he released his autobiography titled ‘Declared’ in 2016. 

• In May 2022, ECB appointed him as England Test coach. On his appointment, the 40-year-old cricketer, who was the in-charge of the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders at the time of this announcement, said,
  

  In taking this role on, I am acutely aware of the significant challenges the team faces at present, and I strongly believe in my ability to help the team emerge as a stronger force once we’ve confronted them head-on.”