(CMC) — Star New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum says he is excited about the prospects of reuniting with West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo when he makes his debut in the HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which begins later this month.
The New Zealand cricketer will be playing alongside Bravo, a Trinidad and Tobago national, for the Port of Spain-based Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the six franchise tournament.
McCullum and Bravo are members of the Gujarat Lions which emerged as one of the leading teams in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL).
“It’s going to be pretty cool to play on the same team as Dwayne. He’s the King of Trinidad by all accounts,” said McCullum, who also featured with Barbadian Dwayne Smith in prolific opening partnerships during the IPL.
“So I’m looking forward to playing with him there and experiencing different cultures. Hopefully we can continue on the winning way that was experienced last year.”
McCullum boasts a phenomenal international career spanning 14 years across three formats.
He has played 101 Tests (scoring 6,453 runs, including a highest score of 302), 260 ODIs (6,083 runs) and 71 T20 Internationals (2,140 runs with a strike rate of 136.21).
“The introduction of some of the biggest stars, like AB de Villiers, is phenomenal and a huge boost to have those guys partaking in the tournament. A pat on the back to CPL that they can attract some of the biggest names in international cricket to their tournament,” he said.
McCullum is one of three New Zealand cricketers campaigning with TKR in the CPL ,which runs until late July.
The others are batsmen Anton Devcich and Colin Munro.
“To have two other Kiwis is going to be good fun,” he said.
“Hopefully with three Kiwis in our (TKR) squad this year we can give it a good shake…”
