New Zealand’s former captain, Brendon McCullum, now serves as the head coach of the Indian Premier League’s franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Before becoming the coach, he played for the franchise. His most celebrated and memorable innings for KKR was the158 match-winning knock on the very first day of the most popular league.

Against Rahul Dravid led Royal Challengers Bangalore, he was on fire and struck 13 sixes and ten fours. And KKR won the game by 140 runs. His knock is still the second-highest score with Chris Gayle’s 175 not out topping the charts.

In the recent interview, KKR head coach revealed that while he does not remember much from that night, he still remembers what the then Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly told him.

Sourav Ganguly’s reaction to Brendon McCullum’s knock:

“I don’t remember many reactions in detail, but what I do remember is what Sourav Ganguly said to me that night,” current Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum told Knights Unplugged on www.kkr.in.

“Dada said, ‘Your life is changed forever’, and I didn’t quite know what he meant at the time, but (in hindsight), I 100% agree with him. Shah Rukh (Khan), in the months which followed or the days and the weeks and the months which followed, he said” ‘you’ll always be with the Knight Riders.’

“There were times when I was with KKR, and then I got released, but we always finished on really good terms. I was always very grateful, and thankful for the opportunity that the franchise had provided for me. So when an opportunity arose again (for the role of the head coach), I thought: ‘Well, Shah Rukh did say to me ‘You’ll always be very involved with KKR’ and this, I guess, is another opportunity’, added the former New Zealand skipper who played 101 Tests, 260 ODIs and 71 T20s for the Black Caps.

He further said that he feels privileged to be part of the franchise and of that match which changed his life forever.