Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Shreyas Iyer’s revelation on the franchises coach and CEO playing a big role in selection matters became one of the biggest talking points of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) in the last week.
KKR have had a campaign where they have blown hot and cold as their chances to make the playoffs hang by a thread. After 13 games played and just one match left in the league stage, the two-time champions have 12 points on the board and sit on 6th place with a record of six wins and seven losses so far.
Amid the visible tension in the camp, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt slammed Brendon McCullum and called his style of cricket ‘senseless.’ Butt further told him to allow captain Iyer to make mistakes and asserted the skipper must be treated with respect.
“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,” said Butt on his Youtube channel.
“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,” he added.
Butt elaborated his criticism of McCullum’s tactics by remembering his stint with Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars. “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.
“Lahore gave a lot of chances to him but his method didn’t work out. That kind of tactic can work on good pitches but it’s not a remedy for all conditions. As a coach, you must plan for all conditions,” concluded.
The 2022 IPL is McCullum’s last in charge of KKR after he was named England’s new red-ball coach. The ex-New Zealand skipper will take over as England’s coach when the Ben Stokes-led side host the Black Caps.
