Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has partly put the blame on the hectic scheduling of matches for the Black Caps’ 0-3 whitewash in the recent T20I series against India. He said that while it was frustrating to lose in such a manner, it was more on account of players being away from home for far too long.
New Zealand, who lost the final of the T20 World Cup 2021 to Australia on November 14 in UAE, played the first T20I against India in Jaipur on November 17. They lost that game and went on to lose the next two T20Is in Ranchi on November 19 and in Kolkata on November 21st respectively.
The Black Caps were bowled out for 111 at the Eden Gardens as they were nowhere near India’s 184, with Martin Guptill hitting a half-century and Mitchell Santner taking three wickets.
“The Blackcaps were a bit frustrating, but it’s a tough schedule for them to bounce straight out of a (T20) World Cup Final and then head over to India and take on a team over there, but they’ll be disappointed with their return no doubt," McCullum told SENZ Breakfast on Monday.
“It’s not always easy (to be away from home), I understand that. If I look at the Black Caps, I actually think they looked a little fatigued as well and their performances over the last couple of days. Your mind is a bit fried, you’ve been away for a long time, you’re just struggling to deal with the pressures and the time on the road and you haven’t been able to cope accordingly. There’s that aspect or then there’s the aspect of where you’re literally just done, you need to get home, you need to spend some time with your loved ones, but it’s just part of the game," added McCullum.
McCullum also praised Martin Guptill for his performance in the series as he made 152 runs with 2 half-centuries to his name at a strike rate of 163.44. but lamented the fact that not many provided support to the veteran opener.
“Not many guys actually put up their hand to be honest. Probably only (Martin) Guptill, was probably the only one who will walk away from that tour really content that he sort of made a fist of the conditions,” he said.
(IANS inputs)
