Brendon McCullum is England's white-ball head coach | PC- AFP
Recently, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) underwent massive changes following the horrendous drama that unfolded during the Lord's Test against New Zealand.
Ben Stokes had taken his retirement quite infamously, and then the ECB removed Brendon McCullum from his job as England’s Test head coach. Now, the former New Zealand captain will serve only as their white-ball coach, bringing the curtain down on the Bazball era.
There are talks about McCullum’s successor as England Test head coach, but in this article, we will discuss IPL teams that can have the Kiwi as their head coach ahead of IPL 2027.
Three IPL teams that can have Brendon McCullum as head coach
Chennai Super Kings
CSK have recently ended ties the legendary coach Stephen Fleming, ending an 18-year-old relationship. The Kiwi, synonymous with Chennai, had won five IPL titles with them, alongside two Champions League T20 trophies.
Read More: All Trophies CSK Won Under Stephen Fleming
As an era has come to an end, the five-time champions need a solid coach, especially with MS Dhoni already fading away. CSK surely need an aggressive figure in their dressing room, who can inject boldness into them, and there would be no better person than Brendon McCullum for the job.
However, DC's Hemang Badani is reportedly seen as the front-runner for the job.
Mumbai Indians
MI took two massive calls ahead of the IPL 2024 season: Firstly, they bought Hardik Pandya and replaced him with Rohit Sharma as captain. Secondly, Mahela Jayawardene was reinstated as head coach. Since then, the five-time champions have finished in the playoffs just once and had two of their worst seasons.
It’s time to move from the Pandya-Jayawardene pair and bring new leaders to take forward MI’s untouched legacy. MI is known for having aggressive head coaches, from Anil Kumble to Mark Boucher. Even though coach Jayawardene won three trophies, his ideas have gotten outdated, to say the least.
On the flip side, Mumbai could have benefited greatly from Brendon McCullum, known for his aggressive, dynamic approach. Even if MI doesn’t move on Pandya as skipper, he will enjoy working with the Kiwi coach, who has a similar character to that of the all-rounder.
Kolkata Knight Riders
With Abhishek Nayar at the helm, KKR didn't have a great stint, finishing in seventh place. At one point in IPL 2026, they had lost five out of their first six matches (the remaining fixture was washed out). However, Nayar deserves credit for their turnaround, as they remained in the race for the playoffs.
With the three-time champions apparently looking to rejig their whole leadership group, Kolkata can look at Brendon McCullum to return as the head coach. The Kiwi took them to the IPL 2021 finals, when they turned their world upside down thanks to the McCullum-Eoin Morgan duo.
As McCullum’s calendar has a bit opened, he may look to get an IPL contract at Kolkata, with whom he shares an extended bond.
Read More: BCCI Planning Suryakumar Yadav's T20I Comeback After Disastrous England Tour
