Brendon McCullum, nicknamed ‘Baz’, is an international wicketkeeper-batsman who was born on September 27, 1981 in Otago, New Zealand. His father, Stu McCullum, was a first-class player for Otago, and his brother, Nathan McCullum, is also a first-class cricketer playing at provincial level.
Brendon McCullum came into prominence in the cricketing world in 2000/01, when he played three Under-19 test matches for New Zealand and scored 455 runs, including three centuries. He scored them at an average of 151.66 and a strike rate of 95.58%, which is impressive even for a one-day match.
In the 2003/04 series against South Africa, Brendon McCullum was given the gloves and since then, he has been the first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman for the national side. He made his mark in the international arena in 2004, when he scored 200 runs in a Test series against England, including a near-century at Lords. He carried his good form to Bangladesh and scored his maiden century with 143 runs at Dhaka in October the same year. In April 2005, Brendon McCullum missed a test century by a whisker, by getting out for 99 to Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, but in August that year, he did score a century, against Zimbabwe.
He earned his first One Day International (ODI) cap in the 2001-02 VB Series against Australia, in which he played as a specialized batsman for New Zealand. In February 2007, Brendon McCullum, along with Craig McMillan, equaled the record for 6th wicket partnership with 165 runs between them and helped New Zealand seal the series 3-0 against Australia.
On March 21, 2007, Brendon McCullum scored a quick fifty in just 20 balls against Canada, setting a new World Cup record. On December 31, the same year, he smashed an even quicker fifty in just 19 balls against Bangladesh and finished with a score of 80 from 28 balls, helping his team successfully chase 93 in just 6 overs. Brendon McCullum scored his maiden ODI century on July 1, 2008 against Ireland and went on to score 166. In the same match, along with James Marshall, he created a New Zealand record for the highest partnership for any wicket, with 266 runs, which is also the second highest opening partnership in all ODIs.
Brendon McCullum lived up to his reputation as an attacking batsman at the club level too, and scored 250* of less than 100 balls in a match for Palmerston Cricket Club in Northern Territory, Australia in July 2002. In 2006, he scored 160 for Glamorgan after opening the batting against Leicestershire in the County Championship. On March 2, 2008, Brendon McCullum played for the Otago Volts in the 2007/08 State Shield final against Auckland Aces and scored 170 runs and helped the team chase 310 successfully, breaking many State Shield batting records in the process.
As Brendon McCullum is a naturally attacking batsman, he is regarded as the perfect player for the T20 format and was signed on a three-year deal for $700,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. Brendon McCullum wasted no time in proving his worth by scoring 158 not out in just 73 balls in the inaugural IPL match against Bangalore Royal Challengers on April 18, 2008, earning the Man of the Match title. With this score he broke the previous record held by Australian Cameron White’s 141. In the same match, he also set a record for most sixes in a T20 innings with 13 to his name.
