New Delhi: Known as one of the world's hardest-hitting and most innovative batsmen, New Zealand's Brendon McCullum today announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.
He will retire from international cricket in February 2016, bringing to an end one of the sport's most colourful careers.
The 34-year-old McCullum will become the first cricketer to play 100 consecutive Test matches when he takes the field in New Zealand's first Test against Australia in Wellington from Feb. 12.
He made his test debut against South Africa in 2004 and hasn't been absent from the New Zealand test side since. He established himself first as a wicketkeeper and lower order batsmen but was forced to give up keeping late in his career because of a back injury and batted higher in the order.
Here, we bring you five unique records held by the Kiwi batsman:
1) Steered NZ to World Cup 2015 finals: The World Cup 2015 was jointly co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand and McCullum was under a lot of pressure to lead his team in the biggest event of the game in front of the home crowd. However, Brendon did his job brilliantly and took New Zealand to the final of the event.
New Zealand had never reached the final of World Cup before and was looking to create history. The team remained unbeaten and finally lost to their trans-Tasmanian neighbours Australia in the final hurdle. It was McCullum's brilliant captaincy which helped New Zealand reach final of the quadrennial event.
2) First batsman to score 150 runs in a T20: Brendon McCullum provided a perfect start for the Indian Premiere League (IPL). It was on April 18, 2008, that the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru witnessed one of the best knocks played in a T20 match.
He played a blistering knock of 158 runs off just 73 balls for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). His record remained intact for five years until it was broken by Chris Gayle in 2013 scoring 173 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore
3) Only Kiwi batsman to score a triple ton in Test matches: Brendon McCullum and power hitting are synonymous with each other as is evident from his 5000-run record in the T20 format. However, McCullum is patient when it comes to Test cricket.
New Zealand was placed precariously in the Wellington Test match against India and was staring at a certain defeat, but McCullum had other ideas. McCullum scored 302 runs from 559 deliveries which helped New Zealand save the match.
He is also the only batsman from New Zealand to score a triple ton in test matches, the next best being 290 made by Ross Taylor.
4) First batsman with a strike rate of over 300 in a World Cup innings: England bowlers faced the raw power of Brendon McCullum in a group stage match. It was England vs New Zealand and McCullum launched into James Anderson & Co scoring 77 runs off just 25 deliveries.
His strike rate was 308. McCullum hit a total of 7 sixes and 8 fours during his innings.
5) First batsman to score two T20 centuries: Brendon McCullum is the only batsman in cricket history to have scored two centuries in T20 international matches. He made an unbeaten 116 against Australia at Christchurch and followed it up against Bangladesh. He scored 123 runs during the ICC World T20 in the opening match of the tournament.
