New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum misses out on the final Twenty20 against Pakistan
New Zealand’s wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum missed the last Twenty20 match of a three-match series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 on Thursday at Christchurch.
According to reports, the New Zealand cricket management decided to rest their wicketkeeper ahead of a Test and then an ODI series against Pakistan. The decision came after the hosts defeated Pakistan in the second T20, played
at Hamilton on Tuesday. With this win, the hosts also took the series as they had already won the opening match in Auckland.
McCullum played the first two matches carrying a back injury that he sustained during the tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 this November.
The selectors decided to give the player sufficient time to take care of his injury owing to the fact that they have already won the T20 series and playing McCullum in the final match may hamper his recovery process.
Giving details to the press about the dropping of McCullum from the squad for the final match, Glenn Turner, who is a selector in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 selection committee, said, “Brendon got through the fitness Test well and we are
pleased with the progress he has made, Although the signs are good, the selection panel think the sensible approach is to rest Brendon for the final Twenty20 international against Pakistan.”
Turner further said, “This is in view of the heavy workload Brendon will shoulder in the upcoming Test and (one-day) series. We believe the extra rest will be of benefit in the longer term."
29-year-old McCullum made his Test debut in 2004 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Auckland-c766. Since then, he has featured regularly in the New Zealand team. He
is currently the number one wicketkeeper in New Zealand and his presence in the Test and then in the ODI series is extremely important for the Kiwis, which is why they are more concerned about his health and want him to be fully fit before the next series
against Pakistan.
The Black Caps were looking to bag the T20 series with a whitewash, but were trounced by Pakistan, who were playing for pride, as they were defeated by 103 runs.
Tags: