Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum retires from all forms of cricket
Auckland: Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum announced his retirement from all forms of competitive cricket after the conclusion of the ongoing Global T20 Canada terming his journey as "one hell of a ride".
McCullum, who is playing for Toronto Nationals, had retired from all forms of international cricket in 2016 but continued to ply his trade in various T20 leagues across the globe.
The 37-year-old former Blac Caps skipper has played 101 Tests in which he scored 6453 runs with 12 hundreds and highest score of 302. In 260 ODIs, he scored 6083 runs with five hundreds while 71 T20 Internationals fetched him 2140 runs.
However he has a staggering T20 career (all leagues included) as he scored 9922 runs 370 games so far.
"It is with pride and satisfaction that I am today announcing my retirement from all cricket following the conclusion of the GT20 Canada. I now won't be playing in the Euro T20 Slam and I sincerely thank the organisers for their support and understanding of my decision," McCullum an official statement on his twitter page.
"As much as I am proud of what I have achieved in my 20-year professional career -- more than I ever could have dreamt of when I first entered the game -- I felt the drive to keep going, harder to maintain in recent months," said McCullum, who was one of the commentators during last month's ICC World Cup.
No one can ever forget McCullum's magnificent 158 not out off 73 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game of the first edition of IPL - an innings that was instrumental in the league gaining instant popularity.
"My style of cricket has always been full noise and full throttle. From Culling Park to Lord's and everything in between, there has been some wonderful memories. Unfortunately, the sacrifices needed and commitment required to play that type of cricket have now become too great. I owe it to myself and the teams I represent to close that chapter rather than plough on regardless of what I know to be true," McCullum further added.
The dasher from Canterbury is extremely proud for the manner in which he played the game. He was trailblazer in his own right and is happy that the Kiwis broke boundaries during his tenure in international cricket.
"With New Zealand, we broke boundaries and established a style of play that earned us respect across the world. In T20 cricket, I have enjoyed so many varied challenges, I can leave the game knowing I left no stone unturned.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
