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    "title": "Current New Zealand team the best side I have played in: McCullum",
    "lang": "en",
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    "cup_year": "2015",
    "article_type": "General",
    "excerpt": "Ahead of their World Cup opener against Sri Lanka, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum",
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    "editor1": "<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Christchurch, Feb 13 (IANS) Ahead of their World Cup opener against Sri Lanka, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has said his team is the best squad he has played in.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Oozing with confidence at the pre-match media conference Friday, McCullum said: &quot;Certainly the ones that I&#39;ve played in, it&#39;s the best team and we tick most boxes. The style of play is something we&#39;re comfortable with. We&#39;ve had different personnel come in and out but the gameplan has always remained the same.&quot;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">&quot;We&#39;ve got a nice mix of youth and experience and a team that I&#39;m really comfortable taking into the World Cup and we&#39;ll give ourselves a good chance.&quot;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">When asked what the final 11 will be against Sri Lanka, McCullum did not disclose the side and said: &quot;I haven&#39;t had a chance to speak to the boys not playing yet so out of respect to them we&#39;ll keep our cards close to our chest.&quot;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">&quot;But we&#39;re comfortable with the team we&#39;ve decided on and it&#39;s going to be exciting for those guys who get first opportunity.&quot;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">The veteran batsman who has featured in 240 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) added they have had a great build-up to the quadrennial event but now they have to start afresh from Saturday.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">&quot;Everyone&#39;s excited. It&#39;s been a great build-up and all the management and coaching staff have done a brilliant job of getting us to this point and now it&#39;s a matter of how we seize the opportunities we get.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">We&#39;ve been playing some good cricket but we know the slate is clean starting tomorrow,&quot; he added.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">New Zealand go into the tournament having beaten Sri Lanka 4-2 in a seven-match ODI series and having won their second warm-up game against the South Africans by 134 runs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n",
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