Colin Munro reveals how Brendon McCullum helped him get over poor start

11/01/2017

Colin Munro has revealed that an encouraging conversation with former teammate Brendan McCullum helped him get his rhythm back in Kanpur, after poor starts in the first two ODIs. The hard-hitter also admitted that it was tough to blast away shots off Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

New Zealand had taken a big gamble coming to India sending Colin Munro to the top and demoting Tom Latham in the middle for his spin-playing prowess. After the Kiwis had to part ways with Brendan McCullum, who was perhaps their best openers in recent years, the opening slot has remained a tough position to fill.

Surprisingly, McCullum was in huge favour of Munro’s new position and he had even enthusiastically tweeted about the same. He also believes that if the Durban-man clicks well at the top, it will relieve huge pressure off Martin Guptill. However, things looked dim for Munro after the first two ODIs and if not for the blistering innings in the last ODI, the Kiwis would definitely have to look at a plan B.

“I hadn't got off to the start I wanted to in terms of opening the batting. So, I sent him a few text messages just asking his thoughts and let him know what I was thinking,” Munro said ahead of the first T20 against India, reported ESPN Cricinfo.

“He again came out and said, 'No, you've sort of got a good record in T20 the way you play at the top of the order, so you can try and commit that same thing in the one-day game. Go out there and express yourself. Give yourself however long it takes, whether it is one ball, two balls or sometimes it could be three or four if the bowlers are bowling well,” added Munro.

In Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India have two of world’s best pace bowlers who can hit the blockhole almost at will, which makes it very difficult for the likes of Munro and Guptill to blast their way out in the first ten overs. Munro admitted that the main challenge for him was to identify how hard to go when the bowlers were not reacting to early pressure.

“The big challenge for me was just finding a good tempo to bat at. I like to say that I want to go in and try and blast off in the first ten but it's not always going to be the case, especially when you're playing against Bhuvi and Bumrah. They're probably the best opening bowlers in these conditions going around the world. It's always a bit hard to start off.”

Colin Munro reveals how Brendon McCullum helped him get over poor start

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