“The Sehwags, the Haydens, the Gayles, the Gilchrists... there are so many who can go out there and break the mark. With these smaller boundaries, no score is safe."
BANGALORE: Brendon McCullum has just woken up and realized what stardom in India is all about. Back in New Zealand there are just 4.5 million people in all; he is unlikely to be mobbed on the streets or in a hotel lobby. Here in Bangalore, his 158-run blitzkrieg has bought him his ticket to fame.
“There is every chance that the mark will be broken today itself,” McCullum told DNA in a lighter vein. He was quick to acknowledge the threat from the giant hitters of the game.
“The Sehwags, the Haydens, the Gayles, the Gilchrists... there are so many who can go out there and break the mark. With these smaller boundaries, no score is safe. I don’t want to say my record will stand the test of the first edition of the IPL,” McCullum added.
Scoring 150-plus individually in a game that last 120 balls requires a Herculean effort. McCullum, however, wants to wait before he admits to have raised the bar. “If I can put on more such high scores and do it consistently, then I would say that I have raised the bar. There will be many high scores. The bats are getting better, players are fitter than ever before and the technology is improving.”
However, even if his record falls there is something he won’t give away easily unless it breaks — his bat. It is with this very same piece of willow that he smashed 170 off just 108 balls for Otago versus Auckland in the summit clash of the NZ State Shield.
“The bat I used yesterday has been going for a couple of months. I used it in the Shield final and it clicked and I hit those 158 runs using the same bat. I don’t want to get rid of it,” he said.
The Kiwi knows people will not expect him to take the leather off the ball in every outing. “There is always extra pressure after a performance like that. I have to manage myself well over the next 24 hours and ensure that I get a good score at the Eden Gardens. I was pretty nervous on Friday. I was on nought off six balls and was getting a bit worried, didn’t know where, the next run was going to come from. But Ganguly told me to take my time. It clicked from there on.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}