At 42 years old, retired West Indies Test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has batted in this year’s Digicel Regional 4-day competition with an aptitude of a cricketer way below his age which corresponded in him scoring 447 runs from five matches at an average of 74.50 which has placed him in third position on the leading runs tally at the half-way stage of the league.
His highest score of 143 and second century thus far, came in his last match against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at Providence and it was an innings where he batted with utmost command stoking the opposition bowlers to all parts of the ground and most importantly bailed the Guyana Jaguars out of another spot of bother.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Throughout the entire season he been the Jaguars’ “Mr. Dependable” and the manner in which he grafted his innings left the question, is “Tiger” still worthy of the maroon colours?
After his Man of the Match winning performance, Shiv was questioned on the whether he would come out of retirement to add to his 164 Tests (the most by a West Indian) and the dogged left-hander said “Somebody has to say something for me to come out of retirement, nothing has been said to me yet so I’m just here to help out the guys.”
He added, “I still love the game, I still do the things such as the training and preparations, the basic stuff that I have done for so many years, preparing myself and getting ready for games, is something that I always enjoy doing.”
A Test career which began with a score of 62 on debut in 1994 against the touring England at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, Bourda, saw the Unity born call time on a stellar 21-year career in January of this year.
The cricketer, who played his last Test in 2015 against the same team he began in 1994, scored 11,857 runs (second most by a West Indian) at an average of 51.37, explained that his focus now is on helping the Jaguars to an unprecedented three-peat in titles.
“The team is playing good cricket, the guys are gelling well, some of our players such [Veerasammy] Permaul,[Shimron] Hetmyer, [Leon] Johnson came in this game and did well, so the team is doing well, the players are performing” the player said.
Chanderpaul, who scored his 73rd First-class century on Saturday added that “performance wise, for me this year, it has been good I don’t know what is going to happen but I’m really focused on Guyana cricket and helping the guys out.”
The four-day season has reached the fifth round and Guyana franchise have managed to win two of their matches, drawing two and losing one which sees them being placed second position.
Commenting on the team’s performance this year and the quest to retain the title the veteran of 355 First-class matches posited that “It is going to be collective effort, not going to be individual, everyone has to chip in like we did the last two seasons and hopefully we can continue it this season.”
Chanderpaul, will turn his attention to the Regional 50-over tournament in January and February after which the four-day season will resume in March.
Considering Pakistan are scheduled to tour the Caribbean in March, a productive 50-over tournament and continued success in the 4-day format, could leave the door open to a fanciful recall to the Test side. ([email protected])
