Knight in shining armour

Calcutta: At $700,000, Brendon McCullum didn’t come cheap for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL’s inaugural auction, last February.

He wasn’t all that expensive either.

Owing to New Zealand’s commitments (versus England), though, McCullum wasn’t available for much of the IPL’s first season, but such problems won’t arise this year.

The second edition begins on April 10 and will end on May 24.

Great news for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team which failed to make at least the last-four stage.

Indeed, over the six weeks this time, it should be total paisa vasool for the Knight Riders. McCullum, in fact, will be returning to Calcutta as a bigger brand — thanks to the MoM awards in successive T20 Internationals against India.

With no Shoaib Akhtar (dumped by the Knight Riders) and no Ricky Ponting (who has made himself unavailable) either, McCullum is set to be the biggest draw after captain Sourav Ganguly.

“We’re absolutely delighted that McCullum will be around for all (minimum of 14) matches... His reputation as a match-winner has grown,” somebody closely associated with the Knight Riders told The Telegraph on Friday evening.

The gentleman added: “One recalls the fierce bidding for McCullum... In the overseas wicket-keepers’ category, he was one of the two (other being Adam Gilchrist) most sought after... I think he was the first ’keeper to be bought at that auction in Mumbai…”

There were good reasons for McCullum being in such demand and his blinder in the IPL opener (versus the Bangalore Royal Challengers), when he smashed an unbeaten 158 off as few as 73 balls, gave the tournament a start which even the most gifted of spin doctors would’ve struggled to script.

However, there’s much more to McCullum than big-hitting and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. need to learn from the professional way he anchored New Zealand’s chase in both T20 Internationals.

Whatever the form, more often than not, the result will be favourable if somebody at the very top of the order takes responsibility till the mission has been accomplished.

McCullum has quickly recognised 20 overs isn’t that short an innings-span and the game isn’t only about trying to clear the boundary. Basically that smart cricket is called for.

It’s time a Virender Sehwag realised that too.

The first to get past 500 runs in T20 Internationals, 27-year-old McCullum (with fifties in each of his last four matches) now has 582 against his name.

Given that McCullum wears two hats, he’ll remain an asset and, in time, should begin making a bigger impact in Tests and ODIs.