"The most important thing he taught me was to be me" - KKR camp bid adieu to outgoing coach Brendon McCullum
Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) players bid an emotional goodbye to their head coach Brendon McCullum, who will be unavailable for them from next IPL. Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer were amongst those who heaped praise and elaborated on their experiences of working with McCullum.
The former Black Caps captain will cease to be KKR's head coach from the next IPL edition, having agreed to become England's Test coach. The 40-year-old has signed a four-year contract with the ECB. He will start his stint next month in a three-match home series against New Zealand.
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@Bazmccullum #AmiKKR #IPL2022 #ThankYouBaz https://t.co/YmxZWY8afX
In a video uploaded by KKR's official Twitter handle, a host of players came forward and sent their messages to the outgoing coach. Opening batter Venkatesh Iyer credited McCullum for teaching him to be himself and encouraging him to give his best. He said:
"He is an unbelievable human being and a great coach to work with. I think the most important thing he taught me was to be me. It's simple, but sometimes we tend to forget it so I really like to thank Baz for reminding me for who I am and making me give my best on the field every single day. All the best, Baz for your coaching career in England. I hope you take the same charisma, same attitude there, and wish you all the success for the next step of your life and we'll be meeting soon."
KKR Skipper Shreyas Iyer stated that the Kiwi urged the players to play freely and was awestruck by his composure. The right-handed batter went on to congratulate him on his England role and said:
"He was an outstanding guy and an outstanding human being. It was really amazing to work under him. He is someone who gives you lot of liberty and freedom. As a player and also as an individual to express yourself on the field and I haven't seen any coach so calm and composed sitting in the dressing room, even in the dugout during the matches."
Iyer continued:
"There's a lot to learn from him, he is one of the most positive persons I've met and how much ever I talk about him, it would be less I feel. I will be definitely missing him once he leaves KKR franchise but really happy for him, coaching for England cricket team and I'm sure I would love to play against them."
McCullum, notably, played the first ever IPL game and smashed a record-breaking hundred against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Dunedin-born former player clobbered an unbeaten 158 off 73 deliveries to kick things off. As KKR's coach, his best achievement was taking them to the finals in the 2021 season.
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KKR eliminated in the group stage in IPL 2022
Not the result we wanted but super proud of this effort!
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#AmiKKR #KKRvLSG #IPL2022 https://t.co/2eYhWxM8Ys
The two-time IPL champions faced a group-stage exit in the ongoing edition after the Lucknow Super Giants beat them by two runs on Wednesday. Although they started the tournament well, Shreyas Iyer & co. could not maintain consistency. The franchise eventually finished with six wins in 14 games.