McCullum runs out of time
It was one of the most telling camera shots of the night, at the Indian Premier League auction in Jaipur. Former Black Caps and now Kings XI Punjab coach Mike Hesson, poker faced, with his bid paddle resting at his side when Brendon McCullum’s name was called.
Hesson had just been involved in a bidding war for young West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer and missed out. But when McCullum was up, nothing. And again when he appeared at the second chance auction.
An IPL without Brendon McCullum? A decade on from his mind-boggling 158 on its opening night which ensured his status as a global cricket superstar, it’s an odd prospect. Even at age 37, his fast hands and eyes are clearly not what they once were.
You could say the same for Chris Gayle, and he was retained by Kings XI, owned by the Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, who excitedly waved the paddle at the mega auction earlier this year but this time handed it over to Hesson.
Second guessing decisions at the IPL auction is a dangerous business. Maybe the newly appointed Hesson was acting under instructions from owners, analysts or powerful backroom staff to target certain players. No one knows better than him McCullum’s destructive power.
On the other hand, maybe Hesson knows just as well the magic is fading for his former New Zealand skipper, as it does for every cricketer in their advancing years.
McCullum’s coach at Brisbane Heat, his mate Daniel Vettori, was also shown the door at RCB while Stephen Fleming, also tight with McCullum, was absent from the auction as he prepares Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League starting this week.
In 11 seasons of the IPL, McCullum played 109 matches and scored 2881 runs at an average of 27.7 and strike rate of
132. In this year’s edition he played just six times for Royal Challengers Bangalore, scoring
127 runs at a strike rate of 144. The writing was on the wall and, no longer a first choice in a starstudded XI, he was released last month.
Still it seemed his reputation and star power – a la Gayle – would see one of the other sides snap up McCullum to fill their roster with just 20 overseas slots open. Instead, Martin Guptill, McCullum’s former opening partner, got a rare IPL callup in the second chance auction to Sunrisers Hyderabad, coached by Tom Moody and captained by Kane Williamson.
So it may well be curtains for McCullum in the IPL, having also been released by Pakistan Super League side the Lahore Qalanders in recent weeks.
He’s back in Brisbane with the Heat for their BBL campaign, having been relieved of the captaincy in favour of his ‘‘Bash Brother’’ Chris Lynn.
McCullum still has T20 options and his stocks remain high in the Caribbean Premier League, where he was fifthhighest runscorer (343, strike rate 140) for the champion Trinbago Knight Riders in September.
You get the feeling McCullum won’t be too distressed to be winding down his career, having cashed in for a decade on the T20 roadshow and set his family up in Matamata where his growing horse racing empire occupies his time. He also markets his own gear range online.
Still, it would have been a jolt for McCullum and his many fans to realise that, after a glittering IPL career, no one was keen to raise the paddle and take a punt on the blazing bat of ‘‘Baz’’ one more time. For old time’s sake.