Brendon McCullum has shocked the cricketing fraternity and the fans worldwide with the decision to retire from international cricket after the Feb 20th test match against the Aussies at Christchurch. At a time when he could have carried forward for atleast another 2-3 years, this decision wasn’t expected. McCullum took the decision to retire due to the love to play his last in Christchurch. One would have to say, this was an offer that was too hard to ignore. The 34 year old took the decision to hang up his boots in a press conference at Clearwater Resort that he was excluding himself from the World Cup T20 tournament in March. For someone who has been a swashbuckling batsman all his career, his decision to opt out was strange.
Brendon McCullum has had fantastic two years with the Black Caps, he has led the side well as an astute leader, showed determination and passion in the crucial junctures. He has laid the foundation for one of the strongest teams that has come out from New Zealand. The 34 year old veteran leaves behind a rich legacy that spanned in a 14 year career. He made his international debut as a 20 year old against Australia at Sydney. However, he had to wait 2 more years for his test debut against South Africa in Hamilton. From that he has gone on to play 98 tests on the trot. This proves the high level of fitness and stamina that the Christchurch man possesses. He always maintained high level of adrenaline with the bat and in the field.
Cricmatez takes a look at the illustrous career of Brendon McCullum through some statistical highlights :
Brendon McCullum Batting Performance against opponents (In Tests)
| Opponents | Mat | Inn | Runs | HS | Avg | 100s | 50s |
| Australia | 14 | 26 | 654 | 104 | 26.16 | 1 | 3 |
| Bangladesh | 9 | 12 | 558 | 185 | 55.80 | 2 | 1 |
| England | 16 | 30 | 1041 | 97 | 35.90 | 0 | 10 |
| India | 10 | 19 | 1224 | 302 | 68.00 | 4 | 2 |
| Pakistan | 8 | 14 | 695 | 202 | 49.64 | 1 | 4 |
| South Africa | 13 | 24 | 575 | 61 | 26.14 | 0 | 5 |
| Sri Lanka | 12 | 22 | 706 | 195 | 35.30 | 1 | 3 |
| West Indies | 13 | 20 | 577 | 113 | 28.85 | 1 | 2 |
| Zimbabwe | 4 | 5 | 243 | 111 | 48.60 | 1 | 1 |
The stats clearly show that he has been very good against subcontinental teams like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. He has a spectacular record against India, averaging 68 and a high score of 302. He has also scored 4 hundreds against India, which is the most against a team by McCullum. His average against Pakistan is just under 50. McCullum has 6,273 test runs overall at an average of 38.48 with 11 hundreds.
