Background

Brendon McCullum began his domestic career playing for his hometown club Otago in 1999; he was signed by Canterbury in mid-2003 for a four-year contract. In the meantime, Brendon Mccullum joined Glamorgan for the 2006 summer season and scored 160-run innings that senior cricketers rated as among the best of the year.

Later, Brendon McCullum became one of the World's most famous Twenty 20 batsmen. During the off-season, McCullum played for his hometown Otago Volts along with participating in T20 leagues around.

First Appearance

In January 2002, McCullum made his ODI debut for New Zealand against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He only managed to score five runs in 15 balls, but later worked hard to continue his good form. He eventually became one of New Zealand's best and most aggressive batsmen.

In March 2004, McCullum played his debut Test match for New Zealand aged 23, during South Africa's three-match series against New Zealand.

Ascend to Glory

In February 2014, McCullum became the first New Zealand cricketer to score a triple century against India. As well, he became the first New Zealander to reach 1000 test runs in a calendar year when he scored 1164 runs in 2014.

Against Bangladesh, he played a watch-winning T20 international knock by scoring 123 runs. Also, he set the IPL record for a second-highest individual score by scoring 158 not out for the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008.

Low Point

McCullam had some ups and downs during his cricket career, which is a part of every athlete's journey. He has been criticized for some big controversies. The controversies are as follows:

• In 2006, when McCullum dismissed Muttiah Muralitharan in a manner contrary to the spirit of the game, he received ire from cricket fans. Sangakkara was batting on 99 and took a single to complete his century; Murali completed the single and ran to congratulate Sanga. However, McCullum couldn't resist taking the bails off quickly and making a run-out just as he turned to do so. The third umpire too gave him out. A decade later, Brendon apologized for his mistake at the 'MCC Spirit of Cricket Crowley Lecture'.
• McCullum was suspected of being the person responsible for the abrupt removal of Ross Taylor from his position as captain. According to him, Ross was not able to communicate well with the players and therefore was unworthy of the captaincy. Although he denied having anything to do with Ross's sacking.

Captaincy

As captain and as a batsman, McCullum has been praised for inspiring New Zealand to heights they had never experienced before. He also performed well with the bat.

McCullum has led the Black Caps to 11 wins, nine losses, and 11 draws since taking over the captaincy from Ross Taylor in December 2012. His winning ratio of 37.93% is the best for any New Zealand captain. His winning percentage of 59.43% from 56 ODIs as captain is also the highest for any New Zealander with more than 30 games as captain.

Additionally, he is the first captain to score a century in his farewell test, as well as the highest runs scorer by the captain.

Brendon McCullum’s Records

• Brendon McCullum held the record for most runs scored in the T20 format at the time of his retirement, with 2,140 runs.
• He also had the record for most fifties, centuries, sixes, and fours in the short format during his playing time.
• McCullum became the first New Zealander to score a triple century in Test cricket (302 off 559 deliveries) in February 2014.
• The fastest Test century in history was achieved by McCullum against Australia in his farewell Test, breaking Sir Vivian Richards' 30-year-old record.
• With 107 sixes, McCullum concluded his Test career on a high note. The previous record was held by Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist with 100 sixes.
• Record of 2 fastest fifty in World Cups (in different World Cups).

Retirement

McCullum announced on 22 December 2015 that he would be retiring from international cricket at the end of the southern summer. This followed the announcement by his brother earlier in the year. Moreover, he scored 170 runs in his farewell test, the highest by a captain in a farewell test. On 24 February 2016, he retired from international cricket.

After retirement, he started coaching teams in IPL and PSL. McCullum currently serves as the head coach of England Cricket's Test team.