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'McCullum proved attacking batsmen can get big scores too'

Sikandar Raza picks the best performance he watched in the 2010s

As told to Mohammad Isam
04-Jan-2020
Brendon McCullum batted for nearly 13 hours to make New Zealand's first triple-hundred  •  Getty Images

Brendon McCullum batted for nearly 13 hours to make New Zealand's first triple-hundred  •  Getty Images

Players on the best cricket performance they watched in the 2010s

by Sikandar Raza

Brendon McCullum
302 v India, second Test, Wellington, 2014

Anytime you score a hundred, it is special. A double-hundred is extra special, but I think not many players score a triple-century. Particularly the attacking players, who you normally associate with getting a quick hundred.
For someone like me and my style of batting, I enjoyed this knock of McCullum's against India. He had to buckle down through a few spells of tough cricket. But the free-flowing nature of his batting and how he got to his triple-hundred certainly broke the myth that people may have about attacking batters in Test cricket.
What made this knock even more special is the opponent. India is a complete side in all forms of the game.
When you are trying to save a Test match against such a team, you get into the shell. You just block, block, block. That's why I think Brendon McCullum is such a genius. He was a step ahead. He went attack, attack, attack.
Let us not forget about BJ Watling's contribution - how solid he was so that McCullum could play his game.
More in the decade in review, 2010-19