McCullum’s bold approach was also reflected in his time as a cricket head coach, before taking the England Test job.
He won the Caribbean Premier League in 2020 with Trinbago Knight Riders, went unbeaten throughout the 12-match T20 tournament, and also reached the final of the Indian Premier League with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2021.
There, after KKR had won just two of their first seven matches, he publicly criticized his players for being too timid in their approach.
“I have repeatedly asked that we be more aggressive,” he said.
“A saying I’ve used throughout my career is ‘If you can’t change a man, change a man’.
The result was Nitish Rana being moved from the opening order to the middle order, with Venkatesh Iyer coming to the top.
KKR’s power run rate jumped from 7.25 per over to 8.08, and seven wins were achieved from the next nine before defeat to Chennai Super Kings in the final.
Attack is non-negotiable.