There’s still a lot left in the tank, says seasoned McCullum
sharjah — Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has said that that there’s still a lot of cricket left in him and he is still enjoying the sport.
Ever since he called time on his international career two years ago, the Kiwi has joined the growing list of T20 globetrotters, parading his wares for different franchise-based leagues around the world.
McCullum has featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and the Gujarat Lions, and has also played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Australian Big Bash and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The 37-year-old, who has 9,562 runs from 354 T20s, also joined the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League (APL) and although he hasn’t set the League alight like his once famous attacking batsmanship, McCullum said there’s still a lot left in the tank.
McCullum’s Kandahar Knights suffered a four wicket loss to Kabul Zwanan in a crucial fixture on Tuesday night. Kandahar Knights, batting first, scored 152 for 5 in 20 overs while Zwanan achieved the target scoring153 for 6 in 19.1 overs. “I feel good, I feel fit, and I’m really enjoying my cricket still,” said McCullum.
“I’ve got a good two years playing in couple of these other tournaments already and while you are still enjoying it, while you are able to compete and do all the things that you enjoy, you’ve got some great experiences to be had. So, you do it for as long as you can and so looking forward to another couple of years,” he added. His form hasn’t been nothing much to write home about but McCullum said that happens sometimes. Nonetheless, he was pleased with the talent Afghanistan have got.
“I’m enjoying the tournament. It’s been fun. You always like to have scored more runs. It’s just the nature of what we like as players, we want to come in and do well in every game. It doesn’t always work out like that. But it has been a good experience to play with some of the local boys. There is so much talent in Afghanistan. Young (Karim) Janat, his performance so far in the tournament has really caught my eye and I think he’s a superstar in the making. Obviously, there’s a lot of other very, very good players out there,” McCullum observed.
McCullum, who played 101 Tests, 260 ODIs and 71 T20Is, felt that the APL will grow in time and be on par with the other Leagues.
“It is going to take a little bit of time and obviously having to do it outside of Afghanistan initially, it is going to take a bit of time. The talent which is evident in Afghanistan cricket is just immense and the standard of cricket is actually very high. If we can get a little bit more atmosphere at the ground, I’m sure that it will happen in time. Then, the APL can certainly stand on its own two feet with other tournaments around the world,” he said.