5 reasons why Brendon McCullum will be missed

#1 Enterprising batsman

In Danny Morrison’s words, McCullum always had the dancing shoes on

When it comes to swashbuckling knocks, there aren’t many better than McCullum. He was one of those players born to play T20 cricket, but lack of too many matches in that format didn’t really affect him, considering his style in ODIs and Tests.

The man broke Sir Vivian Richards’ record for the fastest Test century, in his last international match, against Australia, doing so in just 54 balls on a lively track, walking in at a precarious situation. He is a natural crowd-puller. McCullum’s

McCullum’s strike rate of 96.37 in ODIs is only next to those of Shahid Afridi, Virender Sehwag, AB de Villiers and Adam Gilchrist amongst batsmen with more than 5000 runs. His 107 sixes in Tests is also a record as he recently went past Adam Gilchrist’s 100.

McCullum has a Test strike-rate of 64.60, seventh highest amongst all batsmen with more than 5000 runs. Even with that rate of attacking, he still managed 43 50+ scores. He also has 200 ODI 6s.

McCullum’s blazing ODI half-century was a fascinating start to the 2015 ODI World Cup, underlining his mantra of living and dying by the sword. Add to that his triple century at home, uncharted territory for New Zealand batsman, from a losing position against India to saving the match, and McCullum’s credentials as a batsman are established beyond doubt.