Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum will continue to ‘transition away from the playing stuff’, after missing an Indian Premier League contract at Tuesday’s player auction.

McCullum has played in all editions of the tournament since its inception in 2008, but won’t feature in 2019. The 37-year-old previously represented the Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, scoring 2880 runs in 109 matches. The hard-hitting right-hander gathered two centuries and 13 half-tons.

‘That’s the way things go sometimes. I’ve been very lucky, I’ve had 11 seasons in the IPL and at some stage you need to move along,’ he told Radio Sport.

‘I’m certainly not too worried about it – it’s the way the game goes sometimes. I certainly wish the other boys all the best, and you never know, you just never know what might unfold in the future.’

The Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad bought Black Caps stars Lockie Ferguson and Martin Guptill respectively.

Meanwhile, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee (Bangalore), Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne (Mumbai), Trent Boult, Colin Munro (Delhi), Kane Williamson (Hyderabad), Mitchell Santner (Chennai) and Ish Sodhi (Rajasthan) were retained.

‘All good things must come to an end, and I was very delighted to see some of the Kiwi boys got picked up,’ added McCullum.

Photo: Gallo