Brendon McCullum once again proved how devastating he can be at the top of the order for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), but fans will not be happy to know that he will have to leave for England to join his national side. Former Australian veteran Michael Hussey will be replacing him for the rest of the tournament.
CSK have almost sealed their spot in the Playoff stages of the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 after defeating Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 12 runs in Chennai on Sunday.
McCullum, alongside Dwayne Smith, has given CSK the perfect start in this edition of the IPL. He has already amassed 419 runs in 12 matches at an astonishing strike rate of 165.61.
In the previous years, Hussey gave CSK similar start and was a crucial player for the men in yellow, until he was bought by Mumbai Indians. But he did not have the same impact there like he made with the yellow jersey. Hussey was brought back to the CSK squad and is likely to open the batting with Dwayne Smith for the rest of the tournament.
CSK captain MS Dhoni said after their match against the Royals that McCullum will be missed at the top of the order.
"There is a joke in the dressing room that if Baz (Brendon McCullum) bats for 6 overs, he's cooked there," said Dhoni in his post-match interview. Michael Hussey will replace McCullum. Hussey has been great for us. Yes it is a big loss that Brendon will have to go back (to attend national duty)."
On the subject of not using R Ashwin with the ball at all in the win over RR, Dhoni said: "Jadeja and Negi were bowling well. I felt as if there's no point bowling Ashwin. It's not that he's not good enough, but it is just that I didn't have to use him."
