‘Quitting captaincy? Better to focus on next few games’

“At the moment,all that I am focusing on is the next few games. Trying to do whatever I can,try as hard as I possibly can to get something going,” McCullum said after his team went down by seven wickets against Delhi Daredevils at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Asked if he was contemplating quitting captaincy,the Kiwi stumper-batsman didn’t have a straight answer. “I know I mentioned that a couple of games ago and that is something I have to look at,” he said. Then he dropped a hint that he was going to lead in the last four games as well and will take a call next year. KKR’s director of cricket operations John Buchanan earlier said that they would stick to McCullum for the entire tournament this year.

“I will work out with the coaching staff next year. That is what the goal is,” he said,adding: “Whatever happens I will be totally committed to Kolkata Knight Riders and will help the team get some good results in the future. We are immensely proud of our team.”

McCullum held “bad luck and “poor execution” responsible for poor show in the tournament.

“A bit of both. When things are going for you,you get the luck. Things obviously aren’t going for us at the moment. And we are not getting the luck go our way,McCullum said.

Asked to elaborate,he said: “It’s hard to put your finger on any one thing. We haven’t been consistent and let the momentum slip during all our matches. When the bowlers bowled well,batting lets us down,and when the batsmen performed,bowling and fielding were not up to the mark.”

McCullum,however,has nor complaints. He doesn’t feel let down by any individual. “This is certainly not because of lack of trying. Guys out there are trying as hard as they possibly can. Things simply aren’t going our way,” he said.

On a positive note,he tried to take solace from the fact that the team fought well against Delhi,even when the chips were really down. “The way we played tonight,it makes me very proud to be a captain. You walk off with smile on your face and positive body language because you know you have had a team that had given everything they possibly had,” McCullum concluded.