McCullum finds encouragement from Agarkar, Vettori

DLF Indian Premier League
McCullum finds encouragement from Agarkar, Vettori

JOHANNESBURG: He set the tone for DLF Indian Premier League with a blitzkrieg in the opening game last year. But a year on, Brendon McCullum has been a mere shadow of the man who slammed Royal Challengers Bangalore all over the M Chinnaswamy Stadium so much so that he has been the biggest disappointment of IPL 2009.


These have been the most forgetful few weeks of his cricketing career, runs coming in a trickle, his leadership skills coming under the microscope. To make matters worse, his team, Kolkata Knight Riders have also not been performing to potential.


Kolkata Knight Riders have been virtually out of the race for the semifinals for a long time now. But in this hour of crisis, his teammates are sticking by him and are hoping that he would turn the corner in the final stretch. "That's (McCullum's form) been the biggest loss for us in the tournament," said teammate Ajit Agarkar in an interview to iplt20.com. "He is such a dangerous and explosive player. I hope he hits top form in the next four games and strikes purple patch."


Support has also poured in from McCullum's New Zealand teammates too. The Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori says the wicket-keeper is just one knock away from being among the runs. "As soon as he get those runs, he will be up again. He has worked quite hard. There has not been a single good cricketer ever who hasn't been through what he has seen," said Vettori.


The Knight Riders camp believes that bad luck has dogged McCullum. "He had a couple of poor decisions, a bad one on Sunday. Then, he was unlucky he hit a long hop straight to point. These things happen with any cricketer," said Agarkar. McCullum said pretty much the same as he courageously faced the flashlights after another loss in the tournament. The situation that he finds himself is far removed from what was expected at the start of the tournament. Along with Chris Gayle, McCullum was supposed to provide firepower to propel Knight Riders into the top four.


But that did not happen. "The kind of players Chris and Brendon are, we expected them to give us the edge," Agarkar said. "But there are four more games and even though we may make the semifinals, Brendon is a key player for us and we hope he can turn it around."


But has McCullum the batsman affected the McCullum the captain or the other way around? "Not at all. I am sure he is the feeling the pinch because he wants to perform and lead by example," Agarkar said. "In fact, if anything, he has tried even harder on the field. We are all hoping that he will set the record straight in the final stretch."