IPL 2022: Brendon McCullum addresses KKR stars in emotional farewell speech - I wil keep following your careers
India Today
IPL 2022: Brendon McCullum quit his head coach role at Kolkata Knight Riders as the former New Zealand captain is set to take over as the coach of the England men's Test team.
Kolkata Knight Riders' outgoing head coach Brendon McCullum came up with an emotional farewell speech as he addressed the KKR teammates and the rest of the support staff members. McCullum, who has had an eventful 3 years as the head coach of the franchise, will leave the job as he is all set to join the England men's Test team as head coach in June.
Brendon McCullum, who had a memorable stint as a player with KKR, took over as the head coach in 2019, and in his first tenure as coach, the former champions finished 5th. However, KKR imbibed McCullum's fearless approach. Despite having a horror run in the first half of the IPL 2021 season, KKR fought back and reached the final.
McCullum joined hands with Shreyas Iyer for IPL 2022 and the thrill ride continued as KKR came up with an entertaining brand of cricket, albeit failing to be consistent. McCullum finishes his tenure after KKR fell short of making the playoffs.
Thanking CEO Venky Mysore, McCullum said he was lucky to be given the responsibility of heading a successful franchise like KKR over the last 3 years.
"Firstly, Venky a big thank you to you. Three years ago, he took a chance on me as a coach. Since then, it's been a pretty steep learning curve and I have enjoyed every moment of it. Even the tough times have been pretty big learning curves," McCullum said in a video shared by KKR.
McCullum has often been credited with identifying young talents and nurturing them at KKR and the head coach summed up his coaching style when he addressed the players in the team hotel.
"I love you, boys. I know the seasons don't always pan out how you want them to pan out. But I loved the effort that all of you guys put in. My style of coaching is not necessarily about cricket, it's about life and it's about relationships and giving you guys confidence. I feel like you guys have trusted me to be able to help you out," he added.
