Dinesh Karthik opines on Brendon McCullum's appointment as England head coach

On May 12 (Thursday), an all-important announcement took place, wherein the former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was appointed as the head coach of the England Test team for a four-year deal.

In a recent interview with ICC Review, the Indian and Royal Challengers Bangalore wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik opined on McCullum's nature and attitude and briefly explained the dressing room atmosphere under the Kiwi batter's presence.

McCullum coached the Kolkata Knight Riders team (KKR) for three seasons, with Karthik serving as the captain of the team.

The 36-year-old thinks the appointment of McCullum as the head coach will infuse positive energy into the Test team. 

"The one thing I can tell you in the enormous amounts of time I've spent with him is that there is no negative bone in his body," Karthik said on the ICC Review.

"He is somebody who wants to do everything positively. So it's going to be very interesting when Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum meet up and figure out what's the positive way for England cricket to do things," he added.

The cricket fraternity has raised doubts about the former Kiwi captain's ability to excel in red-ball cricket. In this aspect, Karthik thinks some things will undoubtedly be different for McCullum and terms Test cricket as an altogether different game. 

"I think certain things will be definitely new to Brendon McCullum," he said.

"There is no doubt about it. Even though he has done his coaching bit for Kolkata Knight Riders and Trinbago Knight Riders, I think red-ball cricket is a completely different kettle of fish," Karthik added. 

This appointment comes on the back of England's horrific performances in the World Test Championship 2021-23 Cycle. They have just a single victory in 17 appearances and lost the recent Ashes series 0-4. 

Karthik reckoned that McCullum has opted to take this role because of a tough challenge to help the England team reach the pinnacle of Test cricket again. 

"I think McCullum wants to take this up because he sees this as a major challenge. A team that has obviously not done really well in the last two years. A bit in the dumps but to try and resurrect and try and take them to the pinnacle of Test cricket, which is what they are aiming to do," DK opined.

The wicket-keeper adds that the England cricket dressing room will be relaxed under McCullum's supervision. 

"It will be a very relaxed dressing room. I've seen that he is somebody who focuses a lot on playing a lot of sports off the field and off the field, having a lot of fun as well," Karthik concluded.