Brendon McCullum

The arrival

Brendon McCullum arrived through the auction: Kolkata Knight Riders paid ₹2.80 cr (US$700k), against a base price of ₹70 lakh, at the very first IPL auction.

That first season brought 4 matches and 188 runs.

The peak

The high point with the bat was 2015, for Chennai Super Kings: 436 runs at an average of 33.5, striking at 155.7 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 132.1, with 1 hundred and 2 fifties, and a highest score of 100 not out. There were two seasons of 400 runs or more in all (2014 and 2015).

Measured against the league around it, though, the most destructive season was 2008: 188 runs at a strike rate of 204.3, 75 runs per hundred balls quicker than the IPL as a whole that year.

Franchise by franchise

2008 to 2010, Kolkata Knight Riders. Bought at the 2008 auction for ₹2.80 cr. 22 matches and 588 runs.

2011, Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹2.14 cr. 13 matches and 357 runs.

2012 to 2013, Kolkata Knight Riders, second time round. Bought at the 2012 auction for ₹4.50 cr. 13 matches and 295 runs; champions in 2012.

2014 to 2015, Chennai Super Kings. Bought at the 2014 auction for ₹3.25 cr. 28 matches and 841 runs.

2016 to 2017, Gujarat Lions. Arrived outside the auction. 27 matches and 674 runs.

2018, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bought at the 2018 auction for ₹3.60 cr. 6 matches and 127 runs.

6 spells with five franchises in all. The longest was with Kolkata Knight Riders, 2008 to 2010.

How the runs came

Across the career, Brendon McCullum struck at 131.6. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 127.4, so Brendon McCullum scored about 4 runs per hundred balls faster than the typical batter of the time. 68% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 293 fours and 130 sixes.

The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 42.8% of the balls Brendon McCullum faced were dot balls, a higher share than 89% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 16.9 balls, and a four every 7.5.

The fielding record: 38 catches, 14 run-outs and 6 stumpings, the stumpings a reminder of the gloves.

At the auction

Brendon McCullum went under the hammer six times, bought five times and left unsold once. The highest price was ₹4.50 cr (US$900k), paid by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012.

Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.

The legacy

Brendon McCullum made 109 IPL appearances, the last for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018, and won 5 player-of-the-match awards.