Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum recently revealed the difference in policies of IPL franchises Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
After enjoying a successful stint at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during the initial years of the tournament, McCullum went on to represent both CSK and RCB.
Baz paired up with Dwayne Smith, forming a formidable explosive partnership for the Men in Yellow.
However, with age catching up, McCullum was not able to repeat his explosives under RCB skipper Virat Kohli, being shifted continuously in the batting order.
In Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution, former editor of a cricket portal Scyld Berry went behind the scenes to look at strategies made by successful IPL franchises.
Although, the most crucial revelation came from Baz, who stated that CSK tends to back their local players. While RCB constantly is in pursuit of the next big star, disrupting a settled squad.
Over the years, CSK, who participated in ten of the twelve editions held thus far, won three titles in IPL history. Also, they reached finals the most number of times in the competition (8 times).
On the other hand, RCB is still yet to get off the mark in the titles count in IPL history. McCullum’s case itself is an excellent illustration of the statement made while comparing the two big brands of IPL.
McCullum represented CSK in 28 matches. In those matches, he scored 841 runs, with a top score of 100* and a batting average 32.34.
But for RCB, McCullum featured in only six matches, with a dismal tally of 127 runs, at an average of 21.16. He was scheduled to resume his stint at KKR in IPL, but this time as the head coach, taking over from Jacques Kallis.
