Brendon Barrie McCullum

International Career

Brendon Barrie McCullum, born on September 27, 1981, in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand, is a former cricketer renowned for his aggressive batting and dynamic leadership. As a wicketkeeper-batter, he captained the New Zealand national team across all formats, leaving a significant mark on international cricket. McCullum was celebrated for his hard-hitting, notably setting a record for the fastest Test century. He is considered to be amongst New Zealand's most successful batsmen and has even captained his team to the finals of the 2015 ODI Cricket World Cup and 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

Brendon McCullum's international cricket career spanned from 2002 to 2016, during which he became a pivotal figure in New Zealand's cricketing history. His batting carnage in front of world-class bowlers earned him a reputation as one of the most influential cricketers of his era. In the following sections, we will delve into the key moments and achievements that defined his illustrious career.

• January 17, 2002: In the VB Series, 2002, match number 4 at Sydney, Brendon McCullum debuted as New Zealand opener in their ODI jersey. Despite a good start, he got run out by Brett Lee and failed to make his debut memorable. Although New Zealand won the match, he was starving for a big score from his bat, which made him a legend in the future eventually.

• March 10 - 14, 2004: In the South Africa tour of New Zealand in 2004, McCullum debuted in the test format in the 1st test at Hamilton. While chasing South Africa’s 456, he scored his maiden half-century(57 runs from 86 balls) at number 8 position. In the 2nd inning, he remained unbeaten at 19 runs while opening and helped New Zealand to draw the match.
• February 17, 2005: McCullum’s reputation soon made him a perfect white ball batsman and in the Australia tour of New Zealand in 2005, he debuted at Auckland cricket ground(Eden Park). While chasing the mammoth target of 214, he scored 36 runs and gave his wicket to Michael Kasprowicz, and New Zealand lost the match following a batting collapse.
• February 14 - 18, 2014: In the India tour of New Zealand in 2014, McCullum touched his career-best test run record at Wellington against India. While batting in the 2nd innings, Kohli missed an easy catch and after that, he did not give any chance to his opponents and played one of the finest knocks ever witnessed in the history of test cricket. His 302 runs from 559 balls consist of 32 fours and 4 sixes. His batting masterclass helped New Zealand to draw the match easily.

Indian Premier League

Brendon McCullum's IPL career commenced in 2008 with the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he made an immediate impact by scoring an explosive 158* against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Over 109 matches, he amassed 2,880 runs at an average of 27.69, including two centuries and 13 half-centuries. His aggressive batting style and on-field leadership made him a valuable asset to every franchise he represented, including Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Chennai Super Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

In the following sections, we will discuss the key moments and achievements that have defined Brendon McCullum's glorious IPL career.

Year	Information about participation in the tournament
2008 IPL	In the inaugural season, McCullum was acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders in exchange for ₹2,81,12,000. He came into the league with wide respect for his gameplay in white-ball cricket in those days and following that, he posted his all-time best score of his IPL career in the 1st match of the season against RCB at Chinnaswamy stadium. He scored 158* from 73 balls with 10 fours and 13 sixes. KKR won that match and it became a historic moment for the IPL. He scored 188 in 4 matches with a strike rate of 204.34 in that season.
2009 IPL	In the 2009 season, KKR retained him with a hefty price of ₹3,43,84,000, but McCullum failed to justify his price as he failed to deliver the desired performance from his bat. He scored only 285 runs in 13 matches with a strike rate of 119.24. Though he got some big scores in a few matches, he lagged the consistency in that season.
2010 IPL	In this season, KKR again retained him with ₹3,24,03,000, but again, he failed to prove himself and delivered another poor performance in that season. He scored 114 runs in 5 matches with a strike rate of 103.63.
2011 IPL	In 2011, KKR released him, and a new franchise, Kochi Tuskers Kerala bought him in exchange for ₹ 2,18,50,000 from the auction table. In the new team, McCullum’s bat shone higher than before and he scored 357 runs in 13 matches with a strike rate of 129.81. In the 13th match against MI, his batting fireworks of 81 runs snatched the match from Mumbai and gave them a much-needed victory by 8 wickets.
2012 IPL	Due to some legal issues, the Kochi franchise was dissolved by BCCI, and McCullum returned to his former franchise KKR, for ₹ 4,52,43,000. In that season, he scored 289 runs in 12 matches with a strike rate of 102.12.
2013 IPL	In this season, KKR retained him in exchange for ₹ 4,79,43,000. Despite this heavy purchase, team management surprisingly did not give him enough chances in matches and he scored only 6 runs in 1 match he played against RCB.
2014 IPL	In the 2014 mega auction, KKR released McCullum, and CSK bought him from the auction table in exchange for ₹ 3,25,00,000. With the strategic use of MS Dhoni, McCullum shined there and scored 405 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of 121.62.
2015 IPL	In this season, CSK retained him and McCullum gave his best performance in this season. He scored 436 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of 155.71. In this season, he scored his second century in his IPL career from 56 balls, including 7 fours and 9 sixes, which helped CSK to win the match eventually.
2016 IPL	In 2016, he joined Gujarat Lions and delivered another consistent performance throughout the season. In the 16 matches, he scored 354 runs with a strike rate of 135.11.
2017 IPL	Gujarat retained McCullum with a price of ₹ 5,50,00,000 this season. Though he was standing at the last steps of his career, the batting devastation remained unchanged and he scored 319 runs in 11 matches with a strike rate of 147.00.
2018 IPL	This was the last season of this legend's IPL career. In his final year, RCB bought him in exchange for ₹ 3,60,00,000 from the auction table, but he failed to showcase his potential with the bat. This costly buy went flop as McCullum scored 127 runs in 6 matches with a strike rate of 144.31.

Domestic Career

While known for his on-field madness, Brendon McCullum has fantastic domestic stats in New Zealand cricket. He was already an unpolished gem at an early age when he made his first domestic debut at 17 in First-Class cricket from the side of Canterbury against the Central Districts at McLean Park, Napier, New Zealand in the 1999-2000 season. He played as a wicketkeeper-batsman in the match for which he is widely noticed in international cricket, but specific stats on the match are not available. He has played 150 First-Class matches while acquiring a total of 9210 runs, including 17 centuries and 46 half-centuries.

On the other hand, he made his List-A cricket debut in the year 2001 for Canterbury against the Central Districts at Lancaster Park, Christchurch in the Shell Cup. He exhibited his aggressive batting approach by scoring 8 runs off 14 deliveries in that match and did his job as a wicketkeeper.McCullum has made his appearance in 309 List A matches and showcased his explosive batting abilities by scoring 7373 runs with an average of 30.84 which included his 9 centuries and 37 fantastic fifties.

Records and Achievements

Brendon has played fearless cricket with his extraordinary batting and record-breaking knocks and is a symbol of the legacy of leadership. He is the beholder of numerous records and awards. Let’s walk through his awards and records.

Awards:

McCullum is one of the most respected cricketers from New Zealand and has earned his recognition in every shard of the world. He has received some glorious awards that are mentioned below:

• He has been awarded the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal in 2015.
• He was the New Zealand Sportsman of the Year in 2015.
• He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2016.
• He received the ICC T20I Performance of the Year award in 2010.
• McCullum was awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award in 2015.

Records:

McCullum has registered his name in the history of the cricket world with his fantastic innings and unbelievable wicket-keeping abilities. He has set and introduced many records from the New Zealand side which are listed in the following portion:

• He was the first player to score 2000 runs in T20Is.
• He is the holder of the record for scoring the fastest test century in just 54 balls.
• He has scored the most runs in an innings as a wicketkeeper (123).
• He has scored 2nd most double-centuries in a series in test matches (2).
• He has hit 2nd most sixes in a test career (107).
• 2nd in the list of fifties in consecutive innings in T20Is (4).
• He has played 3rd most matches for a team (208).

Personal Life

Brendon McCullum is a name that the world, especially New Zealand cricket fans, have always been excited to watch on the screen, born on 27 September 1981 in Dunedin city on the South Island, New Zealand. Meanwhile, he went to the King’s High School in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand, where he nurtured his cricketing skills from a very young age. After he completed his schooling, he immediately pursued his career in professional cricket as he is from a family of cricketers. Surprisingly, he was also involved in Rugby in his high school days and returned to the sport in 2018 for a month for some trials. He was also a part of establishing the CricHQ (cricket competition management software) with the CEO Simon Baker and former cricketing legend Stephen Fleming.

Family Life

McCullum was born into a sporting family where his father, Stuart McCullum, was a former First-Class cricketer for Otago’s cricket team. His brother was Nathan McCullum who was the on and off-the-field partner of Brendon McCullum as they both represented New Zealand together. His mother, Sue McCullum was a huge supporter of both her children and always backed them in their careers. He married his wife, Ellissa McCullum, in 2003, and they have been together with a strong bond since then. The couple is blessed with three children; one of them is a daughter named Maya McCullum and his two sons are Riley McCullum and Lucas McCullum.

Financial Standing

Brendon McCullum is a polished cricketer who has had a remarkable journey in cricket and has earned immense wealth in his cricketing career. He is one the most successful and richest cricketers from New Zealand, with a whopping net worth of 9 million US dollars or approximately INR 75 crores. He has accumulated his riches from his previous cricketing career and also from his coaching career in recent years.

He had a central contract with the New Zealand cricket board which paid him in the range of NZD 4-5 lakhs when he was the captain and according to reports he is earning INR 18.88 crore from his coaching contract with the England board. He has also earned from his various IPL contracts and has earned INR 4-7 crore per year as KKR’s coach. A portion of his earrings also came from his endorsements with brands like Puma, ANZ Bank, Gatorade, and Adidas.

Cars and Houses

Being a successful cricketer and having a strong financial status, he has kept on investing in profitable assets that would suit him and also mark his status in society. He purchased a 644-square-metre house property with his wife in Christchurch, New Zealand, that was worth around NZD 3.5 million or approximately INR 14 crore and after 3 years in 2014, they sold the house for over USD 3 million which is INR 18.2 crore (approx.).

He also acquired a residence in 2021 in Gibbston Valley, New Zealand, which is a luxury property in a luxury development with various features like a nine-hole golf course. He has some luxurious cars in his collection such as a Mercedes SUV, an Audi A7 and a Range Rover. Price and details are not available about his cars on any platforms.

Scandals

Brendon McCullum is a great cricketer and a fair personality who has played the sport with undue excellence and spirit in his whole career. However, he has been involved in some major controversial run-outs in his journey, some of which were criticized by all. Let us go through some incidents:

• He controversially dismissed Chris Mpofu by a run-out appeal when Mpofu left the crease to congratulate his teammate who had just scored his fifty in that innings.
• In 2006, during New Zealand’s first test against Sri Lanka at Christchurch, he again dismissed Muttiah Muralitharan when he completed his run and left the batting crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara when he smashed his century. This run-out was again a controversial one and even apologized for this incident in 2016 while he was delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket speech.
• This time, Paul Collingwood from England was controversially run out by McCullum when he left the crease after the over was declared. The referee confirmed that the ball hit the stumps before the over was declared, but Daniel Vettori (captain of New Zealand then) withdrew the appeal and let Collingwood resume his innings.

Fan Following

For his fearless batting style, Brendon McCullum is liked by many and loved by the die-hard fans of the cricket universe. He has earned all the recognition and respect from his fans with his on-field presence, which has shocked his viewers all the time. He has a fan following of over 1 million fans on Instagram and a fanbase of 2.2 million on Facebook and is followed by almost 5.25 lakh fans on Twitter (X now).