Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt isn’t happy with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum's coaching style, saying the New Zealander only knows one way of playing, that is to attack irrespective of the conditions and the opposition.
Slamming further McCullum's coaching style, Butt said that the KKR head coach sometimes brings senseless cricket in the garb of fearless cricket during a Q&A session on his YouTube show.
Butt said on his YouTube channel: “McCullum has some issues. He knows one way. He won't look at the pitch, the venue, what can we score, and how much we need for a particular opposition. He just says play freely, score quickly. He starts senseless cricket in the garb of fearless cricket at times.”
On being asked about KKR captain Shreyas Iyer's comments on McCullum and KKR CEO Venky Mysore's interfering with team selections in the ongoing IPL 2022, Butt said that they can’t make him dance to their tunes, they must give him leverage to the team.
He added, “You need to give leverage to the team. When you make someone a captain, he is allowed to make mistakes. The captain is not your peon, who will follow all your commands.”
Meanwhile, Butt also cited the example of McCullum's unsuccessful two stints with the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2017 and 2018, where the franchise ended up at the bottom of the points table on both occasions.
He further explained, “We saw a lot of that in Lahore Qalandars. The meaning of McCullum's fearless cricket was to keep your brains aside and just keep on hitting without looking back. If you have lost 7 out of 10 wickets with 15 overs remaining, he still wanted the team to play that attacking way.”
Butt concluded, “Lahore gave a lot of chances to him but his method didn't work out. That kind of tactic can work on good pitches but it's not a remedy for all conditions. As a coach, you must plan for all conditions.”
