England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook can be considered the best embodiment of Brendon McCullum’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach. The Kiwi’s sacking as England’s Test coach has visibly shaken Brook.
“He has played a massive part in my career,” Brook said, after the six-wicket defeat to India in the first ODI in Birmingham. “I have only ever played under him, and he has been awesome for me. The things he did for the Test side when he first came in, and in the last few years, have been phenomenal.”
By McCullum’s own admission, results weren’t good enough, with England having lost seven of its past nine Tests. Brook said it was understandable why McCullum – who is continuing as the ODI and T20I coach – said that he had let the team down.
“There is always that sense of letting the team down. Today [Tuesday] I felt that way after scoring just one run. You always feel like that when you know you didn’t play as well as you can. That is part of the game. You are in results business and you have to win games.”
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India’s Washington Sundar is one cricketer who has found similar backing from his coach Gautam Gambhir. Washington, who is now an all-format cricketer, scored an unbeaten 52 from 63 balls in the first ODI versus England and was involved in a match-winning 102-run partnership with Axar Patel.
“Gauti bhai always made me understand what exactly I could do with the bat and in my game. Even Ashish Nehra at GT [Gujarat Titans] has helped me understand myself a lot as a person and a cricketer.
“The fact that I play different roles is exciting. Not many people get to do that. I try my best to help the team, and it is exciting to be in different situations and different phases of the game.”
Published on Jul 15, 2026
