#NoMatterWhat - Brendon McCullum the leader: Why his refreshing brand of attacking captaincy works

Brendon McCullum has made Cricket a sport full of fun and excitement for the New Zealand team

The memory of a New Zealand Cricket fan, in the early part of 2013, was plagued with deceit. That it was not because of the five runs that New Zealand failed to score to reach their fifty in 19.2 overs on a January morning in Newlands, Cape Town, is the point to be noted here, notwithstanding the fact that NZ didn’t have any wickets left to score those five runs.

A defeat brings disappointment, and not deceit. A defeat saddens hearts but doesn’t betray them. A defeat is mortal, blasphemy isn’t. Blasphemy was what Brendon McCullum was accused of. Facts didn’t matter then, the stained memory did.

McCullum was a man on a mission and he wasn’t ready to budge from his ideology and thought process. He had a way of doing things and he believed he was right, irrespective of what results said.

Fast forward two years and two months, and it was March 29, 2015. New Zealand were on the brink of creating history - as underdogs. India had done it twice - won as underdogs - but were out of the tournament. They’d just played the greatest game of the World Cup.

The big brothers across the Tasman were ready to unleash in their own backyard- a place where even the concrete from the stands is hostile to anyone who dares to visit. Mitchell Starc had already sealed the Cup on the fifth ball of the match, but the Kiwis in the stands stayed. They stayed right till the end, when the sky was all golden, only to watch their soldiers die with honour. Facts didn’t matter then, memory did.

McCullum doesn’t give you facts, he gives you memories. He doesn’t give you stats, he gives you memories.

The foundation for this two-year journey was laid all the way back in 2003 when a youngster from Dunedin moved to Christchurch. Eleven years, and a nerve-wracking disaster later, scores of Kiwis lined outside the Hagley Oval, formerly a community park, now a Test venue, still hung over from Christmas, yet wanting their hero to alleviate them. Yes, McCullum was a hero now.

Ross Taylor is perhaps one of New Zealand’s better batsmen. Maybe you’d agree that Martin Crowe and Stephen Fleming were definitely better, but my reasons are different.

Before the humiliating 45, New Zealand had toured Sri Lanka and had lost the matches that were left after rain played spoilsport. They’d found a hero in Doug Bracewell, in Hobart, 2011, but they hadn’t won in four Test series.

With the field of play, and the players in it not being the only ones who decide what goes on in the dressing room, New Zealand Coach Mark Hesson sat down with Ross Taylor.

What transpired in the meeting can now be remembered as the Pandora’s box for New Zealand Cricket. Hesson believes he asked Taylor to step down from limited-overs captaincy, Taylor believes that he was sacked all-together.

But these were internal matters, topics of gossip, and debate, but not treachery. What the fan made out of it after knowing about his next captain was what mattered the most. Hesson and McCullum had often shared a cup a tea or had sat down for beer. That was that. That Hesson was McCullum’s coach didn’t matter then. Two and two made 42 then, and McCullum had Taylor’s blood.

This notwithstanding, Taylor still went in as captain in the Test series against Sri Lanka, scored 142 and 74, made New Zealand level the series, and left. If the bruises were fresh, they were deepened and cut open by Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, and Morne Morkel next January.

They managed to lose the next Test even more poorly and got 24 more runs than 45 in the next series against England. After a memorable away win, New Zealand had lost the captain who made them win, were getting whacked everywhere (including the heart) and going home wasn’t a great idea.

They had to, though, en-route Bangladesh, where they almost lost- again. West Indies came to New Zealand next. Taylor was back in the team and knew one just thing - to bat. He batted all the way, yet ended up five runs short, those dreaded five runs, albeit, this time, of 500 in three Tests. New Zealand won their first Test series under McCullum, and it was Taylor who led them through.

The unthinkable bromance started there and hasn’t ended. Taylor batted and McCullum attacked. McCullum attacked and Taylor batted. India were up next.

By lunch on the first day of the first Test, New Zealand were 30 for 3, when McCullum walked out and walked past a receding Taylor. He made sure that Taylor didn’t have to bat again. He made 224 and batted for 776 minutes. New Zealand failed in the second innings, but Tim Southee and Trent Boult had done enough. They won.

The first morning of the next Test belonged to India’s Ishant Sharma, and the day, to Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan. But the match belonged to McCullum.

Giving the Indians a taste of their own medicine, New Zealand found a Laxman in McCullum. Albeit, he scored 21 more runs. He batted for a minute less than the first match but made 78 more runs. He made 302, a first for any Kiwi. New Zealand won the series.

McCullum's ability to take risks and attack consistently has paid off very well for the Kiwis

McCullum wasn’t just a batsman now, he was a force, he was a gambler, but he was fearless. And it was about time that he rubbed off on his players.

They beat West Indies in West Indies, drew with Pakistan in the UAE where, after the death that turned Cricket no less vulnerable than a war, and the red-cherry no less vulnerable than a Kalashnikov, McCullum batted and made 202, at better than a run a ball. McCullum believed in himself, and Cricket believed in McCullum.

McCullum’s life had come full-circle in two years. From Mr. Franchise, from 158*, from being called a ‘lazy prima donna,’ McCullum had turned into a messiah. A messiah, who was just as fallible as any of us, but never backed down. A messiah whom New Zealand looked up to.

They didn’t love him just for the 302, the 224, or the 195 which he was going to greet them with, when they lined up in scores outside the Hagley Oval on Boxing-Day last year. They loved him for the faith he rebuilt. The numbers would be forgotten, but not the time when a man batted for two days and saved a game for the country. McCullum wasn’t a man of stats. He just gave you memories.

A case study was on offer when New Zealand played England in the World Cup.

New Zealand started with four slips for Ian Bell and Moeen Ali. Southee was swinging it and removed the openers. Joe Root and Gary Ballance tried to steady the ship. When Root and Ballance were almost set, Southee had bowled six. The game was nicely set up now for the middle-overs, and Southee could be kept in reserve for the death. But not with McCullum.

Things strike him like lightning- much like he strikes the ball- and he remembered that Ballance had struggled against Southee. Southee was brought back, and he cleaned Ballance up immediately. Eoin Morgan walked in, took guard, and found six men waiting to catch anything that he touched. Include the keeper and the bowler, and it becomes eight. The plan didn’t work, but McCullum didn’t care. He kept attacking.

As to how much the Morgan dismissal by Daniel Vettori depended upon what happened before is debatable, but once Morgan departed, New Zealand certainly believed that it did. Southee was brought back again, with New Zealand just four down, and still having three proper batsmen. But McCullum didn’t care, and he didn’t need to a few overs later, as Southee demolished everyone who came next.

If this was attack, what he did to them with the bat was bludgeoning- 1 6 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 0 1 6 4 0 4 6 0 6 6 6 6 4 0 1 0. 77 off 25 was what McCullum got, and England’s World Cup disaster had just begun.

The gamble could have gone either way, but McCullum didn’t care. He kept playing his shots. He didn’t care either on the most important day of New Zealand’s cricketing history. He played three balls - but each of those was an event. Anything could have happened in those three balls, anything.

That is the thrill of McCullum. That is the probability of McCullum. That is the inspiration that McCullum has become.

What one has to understand is that McCullum has cultivated a mindset and given his team the freedom to play without fear. That he reflects the attitude of the team just adds on to his greatness as a captain.