McCullum mum on quitting captaincy

Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL semi-final hopes lay in tatters but skipper Brendon McCullum is mum on his decision to quit captaincy.

"At the moment, all that I am focusing on is the next few games. Trying to do whatever I can, try as hard as I well possibly can to get something going," McCullum said after the team slumped to a seven-wicket defeat against the Delhi Daredevils last night.

McCullum had earlier decided to step down from the captain's job if the team missed the semifinal berth but the Kiwi didn't give a straight answer when asked if he was going to quit any time soon.

"I know I mentioned that a couple of games ago and that is something that I have got to look at. I'll work out with the coaching staff next year, what the goal is.

"But whatever happens I will be totally committed to Kolkata Knight Riders and helping to get us get some results in the future that we all are immensely proud of," he said.

Looking back at the team's wretched run in the tournament, McCullum felt it was a combination of bad luck and poor execution that did the side in.

"A bit of both. When things are going for you, you get the luck. Things obviously aren't going for us at the moment. And we are not getting the luck go our way," McCullum said.

Asked to pinpoint reasons behind the team's spectacular slide, McCullum said, "It's hard to put your finger (on any one thing). We haven't played consistently well across the board during each game.

"We get our batting going well and our bowling and fielding let us down. We get our bowling going well and our batting lets us down. We are not consistent across all the areas of the game," he said.

McCullum, however, had no complain against any individuals.

"This is certainly not because of lack of trying, guys out there are trying as hard as we possibly can. Unfortunately things aren't going our way," he said.

"The way we played tonight, that makes me very proud to be a captain. You walk off with smile on your face and positive body language because you know that you have had a team that had given everything that they possibly had," he added.