5 legendary cricketers who will not be playing the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup

#3) Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)

Brendon McCullum

The former Kiwi wicket keeper batsman was the captain of their side at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, which they co-hosted along with Australia. McCullum, who made his ODI debut back in 2002 against Australia, represented the Black Caps in 260 ODIs that includes four ICC Cricket World Cups (2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015). The swashbuckling batsman, took all the three formats by storm with his batting.

He holds the record for the fastest Test century of all time, first New Zealander to score a triple ton in Tests and the first batsman to score two centuries in the T20Is. Also, he scored the IPL's first ever in ton in the very match of the inaugural edition a decade ago. McCullum led New Zealand to their first ever ICC Cricket World Cup final appearance in 2015, where they lost to Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

In December, he announced his retirement from the ODIs and subsequently from all forms of Cricket in February, 2016. The 2019 World Cup will miss McCullum's entertainment with the bat. Most importantly, the game will miss its Gentleman at the quadrennial event next summer.

ODI stats: Matches-260, Runs-6083, Average-30.41, Highest score-166, Catches-262, Stumpings-15