DHAKA: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum announced he had signed a one-year contract extension with the Black Caps today, ending speculation about his immediate international future.

The 33-year-old, who led his side to a maiden World Cup final in March, has committed to the Black Caps until the ICC World Twenty20 in March-April next year.

However, he will sit out next month’s limited overs tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa, citing a busy schedule in recent months, including the just-concluded tour of England, reports cricbuzz.com

"It's a critical time for the team," he said. "We've had a very good past 18 months but we've got some real challenges ahead of us and we need to keep making progress."

"This is a young, emerging side with some very big series on the horizon and it's a really exciting time to be involved," he added.

New Zealand have home-and-away series against their trans-Tasman rivals Australia in 2015-16 and will also host Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

New Zealand Cricket chief David White said fans would be rejoicing at retaining McCullum, who has adopted an aggressive brand of cricket since he was appointed captain in late 2012.

BDST: 1628  HRS, JUN 26, 2015
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