England's all-time Test run scorer Joe Root hailed Brendon McCullum for opening his eyes to a different style of cricket. (More Cricket News)
♎Former Test captain Root is one of the players to have thrived under McCullum's tutelage since the former New Zealand skipper took over in 2022.
𒊎Last year, Root surpassed Alastair Cook as England's all-time run scorer in the longest format, and he now holds the fifth-highest tally of runs in Tests, with 12,972, ranking behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Ricky Ponting (13,372), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288).
✱And Root put much of his recent success down to McCullum's coaching.
🔯"He's opened my eyes to looking at the game slightly differently, which at 31 or 32 years old, when Baz [McCullum] came in, is a really refreshing thing," Root told ESPNcricinfo.
🔥"To marry that with the experience that I already had was really quite exciting. I feel it's added quite a lot to my own game, about how you look at managing different bowlers.
ꦉ"Whether it's where you stand, or whether you create an angle. It's about being proactive and trying to get ahead of the game in many respects.
𒀰"Before that, generally, I'd be quite technical and start thinking about shoulders, feet, head, whatever - whereas I think Baz's big strength is very situation-based in the way that he thinks about the game, which I think is brilliant."
♓'Bazball' has not always drawn plaudits from pundits, and McCullum's first stint in charge of England's white-ball team has not gone well, with India cruising to a 4-1 T20I series victory in recent weeks.
🍃But Root is convinced McCullum's approach will keep paying off.
꧟"Baz encourages you to bring the best out of yourself. If that is to be a little bit more aggressive, then so be it," he added.
﷽"It's about, if you get the opportunity to get ahead in the game, or to take someone off their length, or try and nullify a certain danger, then do it.
𝓰"He gives you that freedom and that opportunity to take that on. There's no repercussions to it."
