Who will get McCullum in the Champions League?

The lucrative Champions League series is six months away, but it already sparked off tussles between three teams over the ownership of wicket keeper batsman Brendon McCullum in the tournament.

Come October and it will be time for India to host another Twenty-20 tournament, where world’s best domestic cricket teams will vie for the title. Being the New Zealand’s foremost Twenty-20 team, Otago has ninety nine percent chances of being invited to this lucrative tournament, where the winning team will pocket a check for $6 million! And if that happens, the internationally acclaimed wicket keeper batsman, Brandon McCullum falls into great dilemma—which side to play for? The Australian team, New South Wales Blues or his Indian Premier League team, the Kolkata Knight Riders or his home team—Otago?

The New Zealand cricket will be richer by US$200,000 if McCullum decides to play for a team other than Otago at the Champions League. However, the Otago team management is pretty optimistic about Brandon’s joining in the Otago team. As a Dunedin boy, who went to the Kings High School there, Brendon made his cricket debut with Otago, while his elder brother Nathan debuted with Volts. The Otago Cricket chief executive Ross Dykes says he is quite sure that McCullum’s loyalty lies with none other than Otago.

But what the cricketer himself thinks? In one column, McCullum said that it fills him up with pride to play for Otago; but at the same time he admits that the opportunities that today’s international cricket offers is hard to ignore. And it is indeed; Kolkata Knight Rider has offered him an astronomical $950,000 fee and naturally most likely to get the first preference. And it is one of those opportunities (read, lure of big cash) that made him turn his face from Otago in a one-day round-robin match and instead made him play for New South Wales Blues in the final of the Australian domestic twenty-20 tournament. It brewed up quite a lot of cricket controversy.

And the qualification of Otago to Champion League has once again put him in the cross roads of opting between money and prestige of his country-team. However, if IPL’s Kolkata franchise fail to qualify, then it will be easier for McCullum, for choosing from two is surely easier than choosing out f three. But with KKR being one of the strong contenders of this year’s Indian premier League title, it is unlikely that McCullum will have two options to choose from. However it will be worthwhile to mention here that, some of his colleagues in the national team face the same dilemma and they include the players like Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Ross Taylor, Kyle Mills and Jesse Ryder.

The New Zealand Cricket has already held discussion to work out a solution to it; though they refuse to comment on its outcome.

Credits: Cricket360