New Zealand superstar Brendon McCullum has announced that he will retire from cricket at the conclusion of the Global T20 Canada.

He had been set to play in the Euro T20 Slam, but has pulled out of that competition, thanking the organisers for their “understanding”.

“As much as I am proud of what I’ve achieved in my 20-year professional career - more than I ever could have dreamed of when I first entered the game - I have felt the drive to keep going harder to maintain in recent months,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter.

He will go down in cricket history as one of the game’s most fearsome ball-strikers. Among his feats include blazing 156 in the first-ever Indian Premier League game to get the competition of to a roaring start, and smashing the fastest-ever Test hundred in his final appearance in whites.

With New Zealand, he pioneered an attacking style of cricket which took the Black Caps to the Men’s Cricket World Cup final in 2015, and which England captain Eoin Morgan credited with inspiring his team’s march to go one better this year.

“I look back with pride over the way I’ve played the game and what I’ve achieved,” McCullum said. “With New Zealand we broke boundaries and established a style of play that earned us respect across the world. In T20 cricket, I’ve enjoyed so many varied challenges, I can leave the game knowing I left no stone unturned.”

Source: International Cricket Council