When you attain success by executing your strengths, it feels gratifying. But when you achieve something special by playing out of character, doing something that doesn’t come naturally to you, it feels more satisfying. Brendon McCullum will testify to that.

One of the most destructive batsmen in the world, McCullum opened the account of centuries in Pepsi IPL 2015 with an unbeaten 100 off 56 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai. That was a typical Baz knock – brutal, audacious, authoritative, breezy and brilliant.

One month later at the same venue the CSK opener played another match-winning knock – an 81 off 61 against Rajasthan Royals. It was uncharacteristic of the batsman – sedate, calculated, wily, balanced, but still brilliant.

It was a day when the entertainer in him gave way to the anchor because that was the need of the hour. With CSK in trouble at 15 for 2, McCullum stitched a 101-run partnership with Faf du Plessis and battled the unfamiliar conditions to get his team to a defendable total.

After batting his team to a 12-run win, McCullum spoke to iplt20.com about the challenges he faced during his innings and how CSK bounced back from the defeat against MI in their last game.

The Kiwi batsman also expressed awe over AB de Villiers’s incredible 133 off 59 balls against MI earlier in the day and told us what he would like to take from de Villiers’s batting skills.

A good knock at the right time, given the stage of the tournament?

Yes, it was nice to make contribution and have a really good partnership with Faf as well. The conditions were not easy out there and both of us had to play the games that we are a little bit unfamiliar with. But it was something that we had to do for the team because we knew if we could get to 150-160 it would be a competitive score. We had a really good bowling and fielding performance to back it up. So, overall this is a very satisfying game, especially after the tough loss in the last game.

Which was a tougher knock to play – this one or the century against SRH?

The wicket was a lot better in that game so I could play a lot more freely. Now the wicket has aged as the tournament has progressed, so it asked different questions today. Coming from New Zealand you don’t play a lot on a wicket that is slow and offers spin. So, given that and the situation of the game and tournament on the whole, this is more satisfying.

How hard was the team hit by the loss against MI, given that CSK are not used to losing matches like that, especially at home.

It was a tough loss. We were pretty good throughout that game and credit to the MI guys who came back and stole the game away from us right in the end. T20 turns so quickly. We were very disappointed, but coming today and putting up the performance like we did is a good sign for the team. It was a good show of our mental toughness to be able to bounce back like this.

One thing that this win showed is that CSK do not make the same mistake twice. Is that fair?

We try not to make the same mistake twice and that is something that we pride ourselves on. With our emotional level as well, we try not to get too high or too low. We try to show utmost respect to the game and exhibit our skills to the best we can.

CSK have done well in the home games but now will be the right time to pull up your socks when it comes to away games?

We have to, now, because if we want to win this tournament we will have to win four games away from home. That is a tough challenge for us but we have the team to do it provided we play as well as we have in the majority of our matches. We have seen in the IPL so far that home teams are pretty tough to beat in their own conditions. We probably didn’t play as well as we possibly could in our away games and we need to change that. It is not a complete overhaul; just a bit of nipping and tucking in a couple of areas and we will get a better performance away from home.

Did you watch AB de Villiers’s knock today?

One of the best knocks I have ever seen! AB is playing a different game than the rest of us fellows and he does it in all three formats of the game. He is a freak of nature but he is so humble as well. When speaking after the game he just deflected the praise to everyone else. He is not only a fantastic cricketer but an absolute legend bloke as well. It is nice to see a man like that play like that and entertain the crowd like he did.

If you could steal one thing from AB’s batting, what would it be?

Jeez, it is pretty hard to pick one. He can hit it all around the park. He has tremendous balance at the crease. Anyone who can access the areas of the field that he can and with the power he can has got to have very good eyes. But I think his balance is one thing that allows him to be as strong as he is all around the wicket. So, if I could steal one thing from him, it would be his balance while batting.