Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt slammed cricketer-turned coach Brendon McCullum, saying the former New Zealand skipper brings ‘senseless cricket in the garb of fearless cricket.’ The former Kiwi has grabbed a lot of criticism this season after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) failed to live up to the expectations in IPL 2022.
McCullum, who was recently appointed as England men’s Test coach, achieved a fair bit of success in the last couple of seasons but his strategies have fallen flat this edition. The former Pakistan cricketer added that Brendon McCullum knows only one way and that is to attack while ignoring the conditions and the opposition.
Answering fan queries during his YouTube show, Salman Butt said, “McCullum has some issues. He knows one way. He won’t look at the pitch, the venue, what can we score, how much we need for a particular opposition. He just says play freely, score quickly. He starts senseless cricket in the garb of fearless cricket at times.”
Butt also elaborated his criticism of Brendon McCullum’s tactics by remembering his stint with Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars as captain. The franchise finished at the bottom of the points table in 2017 and 2018.
“We saw a lot of that in Lahore Qalandars. The meaning of McCullum’s fearless cricket was to keep your brains aside and just keep on hitting without looking back. If you have lost 7 out of 10 wickets with 15 overs remaining, he still wanted the team to play that attacking way,” Salman Butt added.
“Captain is not your peon” – Salman Butt on Brendon McCullum’s handling of Shreyas Iyer
The former opener also opined that KKR Shreyas Iyer should be given the freedom to operate instead of making him follow the coach’s order. When a fan asked about KKR captain Shreyas Iyer’s comments on coach and CEO interfering with team selections, Salman Butt added:
“You need to give leverage to the team. When you make someone a captain, he is allowed to make mistakes. Captain is not your peon, who will follow all your commands.”
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