He forsake his reputation on Thursday and Friday to show that responsibility can tame even natural instinct: with New Zealand in deep trouble at 30 for 3, and barely out of it at 251 for four, he knuckled down to guide his side to safer shores.
"It was very hard to rein myself in at time," he conceded, basking in his 224. "But batting with Kane (Williamson) was outstanding. He has a great temperament and, for a young guy, he has a great amount of maturity, as well as experience."
"We had a good chat in the middle (after completing our centuries) and he said 100 is just a number. Our job at that time was not to get too carried away; it was to keep batting and get good runs on the board. Credit to him for passing on his batting knowledge to me that I still have got a job to do," he revealed.
McCullum, though, couldn't curtail himself at the time when most batsmen freeze: in the 90s. If he smashed a six to reach his 100, he blasted a six and a four to reach his double.
"I've had a few 90s in my career. And I don't like to spend a lot of time there. I just felt it was the right option at the right time," he said suppressing his smile.
He agreed that it's tough to lead when you are not scoring runs. "That's when your fighting qualities and leadership skills come out. Because you still have a job to do as captain. That's the important time to stand up as a leader, that's what I have realized recently," he said.
"The important thing is to enjoy other people's success and just keep faith, the heart and desire."
The master of eight centuries, however, refused to put his 224 on the pedestal so soon. "I will do it if we win the game. But I am pleased to have contributed in a significant way, by building partnerships. To get 500 after being put in to bat, and down 30 for 3, is a great effort. It shows that the team has a bit of a fight in it."
Interestingly, at one stage, he thought he would be very happy with a total of 200. "You want to be competitive when you are 30 for 3, so I was thinking of small targets. But when we started going on, the targets changed for us. I didn't think we would reach 500, so this is a fine achievement for the batting group."
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