‘He tore shreds off me’ - Usman Khawaja recalls fiery encounter with Brendon McCullum

Published - 18 Nov 2025, 14:17 IST | Updated - 18 Nov 2025, 14:17 IST

Australian Test opener Usman Khawaja has recalled an unpleasant encounter with Brendon McCullum during the 2011 Test series against New Zealand. However, he noted that when he met the former New Zealand captain again four years later, McCullum had transformed into a completely different person, one who had become a symbol of sportsmanship.

McCullum later received the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for leading a New Zealand side renowned for its respectful and fair approach on the field. The wicketkeeper-batter is also credited with putting an end to sledging within the Kiwi camp, a cultural shift that former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson famously mocked at the time.

“He absolutely tore shreds off me. He sledged the crap out of me, like I’d never been sledged in international cricket before,” said Khawaja as quoted by Fox Cricket.

“It was really bizarre, a few years later when we played against him and he was captain… he was a totally different person. He was chilled and just went about his business,” he added.

After Australia’s 2016 tour of New Zealand, which also happened to be McCullum’s final Test series, Khawaja approached him during the post-series drinks. It was then that the former New Zealand captain apologised for the verbal exchanges from their earlier encounter, acknowledging the past and putting the matter to rest.

“I won’t say exactly the words that he said, but he was just like, ‘Yeah. I was a bit of a… I’ve learned a lot and matured since then.’ But when I was young, he nailed me, so it was funny to see both sides. I respect someone who matures and looks back and thinks, ‘Yeah, I probably wasn’t playing the way I wanted to there.’ I have nothing but respect for that,” said Khawaja

Later that year, in his autobiography, McCullum acknowledged that he was not proud of certain aspects of his early on-field behaviour. He even reflected on a 2006 incident in which he ran out Muttiah Muralitharan while the Sri Lankan spinner was celebrating Kumar Sangakkara’s century, an act he admitted he deeply regretted.

“I wasted a few years trying to be brash and arrogant and hard-minded. It was a false attitude, not true to my character,” wrote McCullum.