McCullum believes Seifert can be New Zealand's next big thing.
New Zealand cricket legend Brendon McCullum has heaped praise on the talented wicket-keeper batsman Tim Seifert, predicting the cricketer to have a breakout season for the Black Caps.
Ahead of the home bilateral series against the West Indies, former Kiwi captain-turned-coach and commentator is back with the Black Caps in a mentoring capacity after finishing coaching stints recently in the Caribbean Premier League and Indian Premier League.
The 25-year-old Seifert has played 3 ODIs and 24 T20Is for New Zealand so far and will be aiming to cement his place in the side during the upcoming three-match T20I series against West Indies starting on 27 November in Auckland. However, the right-hander is yet to receive Test call-up.
He has closely worked with his idol McCullum on his batting and wicket-keeping skills for the last 9 months and also at the recent CPL 2020, where the duo helped the Trinbago Knight Riders win the title and also with Kolkata Knight Riders at IPL 2020, though he didn’t get any game there in the UAE.
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Ahead of the Auckland game, the Kiwi mentor has predicted that Seifert will become New Zealand’s next big star while anticipating a big summer for the talented wicketkeeper-batsman having improved leaps and bounds in quick time both as batsman and gloveman.
McCullum said, “He’s in for a breakout season for the Black Caps. I think he’s a special talent, to be honest. Just seeing how quickly someone can improve and develop some skills, and his attitude and how much he wants it in this game is something to behold. His best days are certainly in front of him.”
The 39-year-old, who was considered to be one of the most destructive batsmen during his playing days, believes that Seifert's game is quite similar to his own.
He signed off by saying, “His game is very similar to mine. I think he's ahead of where I was as a batter at the same time, from a wicket-keeping point of view he's really improved in a short space of time. I've had the pleasure over the last six or nine months being able to help him out with his wicket keeping and also his batting.”
(With New Zealand Herald Inputs)