Brendon McCullum: 10 facts you must know about the New Zealand skipper

Brendon McCullum is one of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket.

Brendon McCullum, born September 27, 1981, is one of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket. The New Zealand skipper has entertained crowds with his breathtaking batting in limited-overs cricket, and has now shown his class in the classical format as well. Nishad Pai Vaidya picks 10  facts about the Kiwi skipper.

1. McCullum grew up in a cricketing household. Not only is his brother Nathan a cricketer, but their father Stuart played 75 First-Class games for Otago from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

2. McCullum’s career in representative cricket started December 1996 when he played for Otago under-17s. His debut was a game against the Northern Districts, where he bagged a pair.

3. McCullum represented New Zealand at the ICC under-19 World Cup 2000 in Sri Lanka. In that tournament, he featured alongside his brother Nathan, Jamie How, James Franklin and Ian Butler, his future New Zealand teammates.

4. McCullum holds the record for the most runs scored by a New Zealand batsman in an under-19 Test match. He scored 186 against South Africa under-19 at Lincoln in 2001.

5. McCullum was only one of two New Zealand players to be named in the ICC World XI 20-man probables for the Super Series One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Australia in 2005. McCullum and Daniel Vettori made it into the ODI list alone.

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6. In 2008, McCullum smashed 170 in a run-chase of 311 against Auckland in the State Shield final. During that innings, he got to his ton off only 52 balls, which is the fastest in New Zealand’s domestic one-day cricket.

7. McCullum is currently the leading run-scorer in T20 International cricket. As of September 26, 2014, he is leading the second highest run-scorer, i.e. Mahela Jayawardene, by 612 runs. He is the only man with two T20I tons.

8. In ODIs, McCullum has been involved in two record partnerships for New Zealand. He was a part of a 274-run opening stand with James Marshall against Ireland in 2008, which is the highest for the first wicket for New Zealand. Along with Craig McMillan, he put up 165 against Australia at Hamilton in 2007, which is a record for New Zealand for the sixth wicket.

9. Though McCullum has given up the gloves now, he remains New Zealand’s most successful wicketkeeper in international cricket. In Tests, he has 179 dismissals, which is 22 behind Adam Parore’s 201. In ODIs, he leads the charts with 242 and in T20Is, he has effected 32. Thus, he has effected a total of 453 dismissals in international cricket.

10. In 2014, McCullum’s house in Christchurch was sold for over USD 3 million. TVNZ reported that the house contained six bedrooms, four living rooms and a “heated pool.”

(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_44)