'Brendon McCullum starts senseless cricket,' says Salman Butt

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) appointment of Brendon McCullum as men's Test head coach has attracted a lot of opinions from former cricketers. While some have lauded his approach to cricket, others criticized his methodology. Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt seems to be off the latter view.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt explained that the former New Zealander's approach to the game is senseless at times and not fearless as everyone perceives it to be. 

Replying to a fan question, Butt said," McCullum has some issues. He knows one way. He won't look at the pitch, the venue, what can we score, how much we need for a particular opposition. He just says play freely, score quickly. He starts senseless cricket in the garb of fearless cricket at times."

It might be noted that the tainted Pakistani opener has spent time with McCullum playing T20 cricket for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lahore Qalandars (LQ), respectively.

In the same session, when asked about his views on Shreyas Iyer's comments on the involvement of the coach and CEO with the selections, the southpaw said that a captain needs space and is not just a coach's puppet. 

"You need to give leverage to the team. When you make someone a captain, he is allowed to make mistakes. The captain is not your peon, who will follow all your commands," Butt answered.

McCullum was captain of the Lahore-based club in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), finishing last on both occasions.

In his concluding statement, Butt said that a good coach has plans for all conditions, not just suitable ones.

"We saw a lot of that in Lahore Qalandars. The meaning of McCullum's fearless cricket was to keep your brains aside and just keep on hitting without looking back. If you have lost 7 out of 10 wickets with 15 overs remaining, he still wanted the team to play that attacking way. Lahore gave a lot of chances to him, but his method didn't work out. That kind of tactic can work on good pitches, but it's not a remedy for all conditions. As a coach, you must plan for all conditions," the 37-year-old concluded.