I want Stokes in his most authentic version as a person: Brendon McCullum

In a historic turnaround, the England cricket board recently made drastic modifications to their think tank by recruiting Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum as the national Test side's captain and coach. This decision was taken in order to counter England's disastrous run in red-ball cricket in recent times. 

The tenure of McCullum as England's test coach is beginning with the much-anticipated home series against the WTC holders New Zealand. Before the series, McCullum emphasized the importance of a good relationship between the captain and coach for the betterment of any team. 

Addressing the media at the Lord's, the former Kiwi international said that the captain and the coach should have a clear vision of the team's goals, and they must be on the same page regarding that. According to the legendary Blackcaps cricketer, the voids can only be filled if the objectives are accurately defined. 

"I think the captain-coach relationship in cricket is vital. I think there needs to be a really tight bond there. You don't have to be the best of mates, but I think you have to have a real clear sort of vision of where you want the team to go, and you both align with that, and then when you have that, then you can try and just fill the gaps," McCullum said. 

McCullum said that as a coach, he wants Stokes to be in his most authentic version and express his views honestly. But, as the former New Zealand captain put it, there'll be times when he will be needed to either pull Stokes back or push him forward as per the needs and interests of the team. 

"It's my job as a coach to fill the gaps for Stokes. I want him to be the most authentic person that he can be, lead the way that he wants to be", the ex-Kiwi skipper said. "There'll be times where I might have to pull him back and times where I might have to push him forward," he further added. 

At last, the dynamic opener from Otago admitted to being excited for the upcoming challenges as England's Test coach. However, he also seemed determined to have some inspection to know the team's current status and bring the required changes in the setup to obtain positive results shortly. 

"First, I've got to have a look around and see where things sort of sit currently and try and identify some areas where we might need to make some changes at times too, but I'm very much looking forward to the challenge," the 40-year old concluded.