Brendon McCullum retires from all forms of cricket

Brendon McCullum visits the New Zealand team during World Cup 2019.

Former New Zealand international cricketer and captain Brendon Mccullum announced that he will retire from all forms of the game after the end of the ongoing Global T20 league being held in Canada.

Brendon McCullum plays for Toronto Nationals in the Global T20 league and has played a couple of cameos. McCullum retired from international cricket in 2016 in the prime of his career.

The 37-year-old former Black Caps skipper has played 101 Tests from which he scored 6453 runs with 12 hundreds and a highest score of 302. In 260 ODIs, he scored 6083 runs with five hundreds while 71 T20 Internationals fetched him 2140 runs.

He has a prolific T20 career (all leagues included) as he scored 9922 runs from 370 games so far.
"It is with pride and satisfaction that I am today announcing my retirement from all cricket following the conclusion of the GT20 Canada. I now won't be playing in the Euro T20 Slam and I sincerely thank the organisers for their support and understanding of my decision," McCullum said in an official statement on his twitter page.

"As much as I am proud of what I have achieved in my 20-year professional career -- more than I ever could have dreamt of when I first entered the game -- I felt the drive to keep going, harder to maintain in recent months," said McCullum, who was one of the commentators during last month's ICC World Cup.

One of his most remarkable innings is the 158 not out off 73 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game of the first edition of IPL -- an innings that was instrumental in the league gaining instant popularity.

"My style of cricket has always been full noise and full throttle. From Culling Park to Lord's and everything in between, there has been some wonderful memories," McCullum said. "Unfortunately, the sacrifices needed and commitment required to play that type of cricket have now become too great. I owe it to myself and the teams I represent to close that chapter rather than plough on regardless of what I know to be true."

The dasher from Canterbury is extremely proud for the manner in which he played the game. He was a trailblazer in his own right and is happy that the Kiwis broke boundaries during his tenure in international cricket.

"With New Zealand, we broke boundaries and established a style of play that earned us respect across the world. In T20 cricket, I have enjoyed so many varied challenges, I can leave the game knowing I left no stone unturned."

Brendon McCullum was credited with the rise of New Zealand cricket in the late 2000s and in the current decade.

Brendon McCullum also captained New Zealand to the 2015 World Cup final. Earlier this year, New Zealand again made it to the final of the World Cup, but lost the trophy due to a technical decision after both England and New Zealand were tied after a Super Over in the final.

With inputs from PTI

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