Don’t go just by the 77 in 25 balls, the fastest in a World cup match. Brendon, or Baz as he is known in the cricket world, has always been a man in a tearing hurry. And the three thumping wins make his side early favourites in what is probably the most evenly balanced World Cup tournament in the last couple of decades.
The first time I met Baz was at the first KKR team meeting in 2008, and I remember being quite surprised when he joined me for a quick cigarette outside. It never seemed to matter in the field though. Brendon is a freak of nature with reflexes that stun even fellow athletes. There are some keeping drills that involve 8 -10 balls hit at you in about 20 seconds. Getting to them is difficult, recovering in time for the next ball, almost impossible. We would all drop everything we were doing just to watch him do the drill and catch each and every ball.
His first match for Kolkata was the first match of the IPL, and it took 7 years and another freak of nature in Chris Gayle to eclipse that amazing 158. He had only four matches that year for KKR and the team struggled once he left. The enduring memory of that particular season was Brendon’s last night in Kolkata. He had seven days of rest before his next match for New Zealand in the UK and decided to really go for broke at the Dublin in ITC Sonar. At 4 am, he realized that he had absolutely no chance of packing his stuff and making his 8 am flight. So, the bartender closed up, went up with him to his room and packed his bags and kit for the flight. As always, Brendon had a good mate to help him make it just in time.
His next season at KKR was a complete disaster. When he took over as captain the first thing he told the team was that if there was a choice between taking a step forward, and one backward, to take that forward step, whatever the consequences. It did not seem to matter though, as we slumped to nine straight defeats, an IPL record. The bravest thing I have seen in cricket is Brendon going out to face the press after every defeat and taking on the same questions on Sourav, Buchanan, captaincy and Fake IPL players night after night.
Brendon returned to the KKR team in 2012 after a season in Kochi as KKR captain. Gautam Gambhir was a huge fan of his talent and attitude. But it would have been among his toughest ever challenges as a player. Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Jacques Kallis becoming automatic selections meant that he would have to compete with Brett Lee, Ryan Ten Doeschate and Eoin Morgan for the fourth first team slot as the IPL allows only four foreigners in the first XI. It wasn’t easy for probably the finest T20 batsmen ever to get used to carrying drinks for the boys. But he did what was needed, and when he did get his chances, he made them count.
The one time we saw him lose his cool was when he ran down the track at RP Singh and was about three yards outside his crease when the umpire gave him out leg before. Brendon shook his head in disbelief and told the umpire while passing that it was a good thing he was over with this decision, as he would never ever give a worse decision than this even if he umpired for the rest of his life. Yes, we had to replace a panel in that Mumbai dressing room!
The current New Zealand squad is firmly behind Brendon as he bids to make New Zealand forget those dreadful 15 overs in 1992 when a teenage Inzamam Ul Haq took a must-win semi final away from them. Will that No 42 tattooed on his arm help him with the answer to this World Cup? We’ll find out over the next few weeks.
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The first time I met Baz was at the first KKR team meeting in 2008, and I remember being quite surprised when he joined me for a quick cigarette outside. It never seemed to matter in the field though. Brendon is a freak of nature with reflexes that stun even fellow athletes. There are some keeping drills that involve 8 -10 balls hit at you in about 20 seconds. Getting to them is difficult, recovering in time for the next ball, almost impossible. We would all drop everything we were doing just to watch him do the drill and catch each and every ball.
His first match for Kolkata was the first match of the IPL, and it took 7 years and another freak of nature in Chris Gayle to eclipse that amazing 158. He had only four matches that year for KKR and the team struggled once he left. The enduring memory of that particular season was Brendon’s last night in Kolkata. He had seven days of rest before his next match for New Zealand in the UK and decided to really go for broke at the Dublin in ITC Sonar. At 4 am, he realized that he had absolutely no chance of packing his stuff and making his 8 am flight. So, the bartender closed up, went up with him to his room and packed his bags and kit for the flight. As always, Brendon had a good mate to help him make it just in time.
His next season at KKR was a complete disaster. When he took over as captain the first thing he told the team was that if there was a choice between taking a step forward, and one backward, to take that forward step, whatever the consequences. It did not seem to matter though, as we slumped to nine straight defeats, an IPL record. The bravest thing I have seen in cricket is Brendon going out to face the press after every defeat and taking on the same questions on Sourav, Buchanan, captaincy and Fake IPL players night after night.
Brendon returned to the KKR team in 2012 after a season in Kochi as KKR captain. Gautam Gambhir was a huge fan of his talent and attitude. But it would have been among his toughest ever challenges as a player. Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Jacques Kallis becoming automatic selections meant that he would have to compete with Brett Lee, Ryan Ten Doeschate and Eoin Morgan for the fourth first team slot as the IPL allows only four foreigners in the first XI. It wasn’t easy for probably the finest T20 batsmen ever to get used to carrying drinks for the boys. But he did what was needed, and when he did get his chances, he made them count.
The one time we saw him lose his cool was when he ran down the track at RP Singh and was about three yards outside his crease when the umpire gave him out leg before. Brendon shook his head in disbelief and told the umpire while passing that it was a good thing he was over with this decision, as he would never ever give a worse decision than this even if he umpired for the rest of his life. Yes, we had to replace a panel in that Mumbai dressing room!
The current New Zealand squad is firmly behind Brendon as he bids to make New Zealand forget those dreadful 15 overs in 1992 when a teenage Inzamam Ul Haq took a must-win semi final away from them. Will that No 42 tattooed on his arm help him with the answer to this World Cup? We’ll find out over the next few weeks.
