Shivnarine Chanderpaul proved that age is just a number when he scored his 30 century against Bangladesh to become only the second West Indian to score a century above the age of 40. While the world talks about the West Indies’ legends in Clive Lloyd, Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Malcolm Marshall, the brand ‘Chanderpaul’ hasn’t found much sponsors yet. He’s been around for 20 years debuting way back in 1994 carrying the burden of the once invincible side of 1960’s on his shoulders without receiving much appreciation from the viewers. It’s true that his stance is not what coaches use as an example to guide their students, but this stance has fetched him a batting average close to 50 in tests and made one of the most accurate bowlers in cricketing history Glenn McGrath to comment that Shiv’s stance puts him off in his run-up. His initial position on the crease could easily confuse the first time viewer as if the bowl is going to be delivered by the square leg umpire but just when the ball is delivered he comes into good positions to unleash his wide array of shots to almost all parts of the ground. One could say that he got his runs against weaker opposition but again he proves them wrong with his test averages of 63 against India, 52 against England, 50 against the Proteas’ and 49 against the Aussies. He provides solidarity to a fragile batting order and can stand for long hours on the crease defying the most potent attacks, maneuvering the tail-enders to give his side a competitive total. He usually plays a defensive game but still he is in the fourth position in the list of fastest centuries with just 69 balls against Australia at Guyana in 2012. His fighting instinct was on show in Jamaica in 2008 when a Brett Lee bouncer rattled him unconscious but he stood up to score a century in that game. The social media would give you day to day informations on Shane Warne’s affairs, Sachin’s opinions, Gayle’s antics but no one talks about this pint sized maestro. Maybe because his side rarely wins, but his figures command respect. He has scored close to 12,000 runs in 150 odd matches and he seems to get better and better with age as he is averaging 67.5 . He also remained unbeaten in the recently concluded series against Bangladesh in which he scored more than 200 runs to become the second batsman after Jacques kallis to do so. He would have scored more runs in his career if he had better support from other end. But still, every match SHIVANARINE CHANDERPAUL pads up with immense dedication for his country hoping to bring glory to his side.
