At 21, Tagenarine Chanderpaul has carried a surname which is internationally known to be that of a prolific batsman in his days for West Indies. Tagenarine, the son of batting legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, has endured the years of comparisons from since his early days and it does not help that his unique batting stance mirrors that of his father.
His large appetite for runs should auger well for what is expected to be a fruitful career
There must immense pressure every time he walks out to bat, with the hope that he reciprocates the runs-machine his father was for both Guyana and the maroon. However, according to Tagenarine, he focuses on what he can do and not what his predecessor has accomplished or continue to do.
“Every time I go out I try to be myself. I cannot be like him [Shivnarine]. I only can be myself, I try not think about it and just do what I can do,” the left-handed batsman told Guyana Times Sport.
In January 2016, after more than two decades and 164 Test matches, Shivnarine, one of West Indies’ finest batsmen, has retired. Chanderpaul finished as the second-highest West Indian Test run-maker, 86 runs short of Brian Lara: Lara got 11,953 while Chanderpaul scored 11,867 (all for West Indies).
Shivnarine (left) and Tagenarine (right) share a number of notable traits (Getty/WICB Media)
He scored 30 Test centuries and averaged 51.37 in the format, and held numerous records that are likely to last for a long time, including batting for more than 25 hours in a Test series between dismissals – he did it against India in 2002, when he faced 1050 consecutive deliveries without losing his wicket.
He also played 268 ODIs for 8778 runs at 41.60 (the last of which was during the 2011 World Cup), and 22 T20Is.
With his departure from the scene and given the aforementioned stats, cricket enthusiasts began to look to Tagenarine to possibly fill the gap.
Young ‘Tage’ made his First-class debut in 2013 against Leeward and since then he has just played 16 matches with a high score of 81.
During 2015/2016 Regional –day season, it was most productive since he scored 327 runs inclusive of two half-centuries.
In his first match of the 2016/2017 – March of this year – he played against the Jamaican Scorpions in Kingston, he made a compact 58 in the first innings but before he got off the mark in the second innings he suffered a broken finger.
Tage got a short ball from pacer Jerome Taylor that jagged back and took him on the small finger of the left hand. The injury meant he played no further part in the season when the Guyana Jaguars won their third consecutive regional four-day title.
“The broken finger was rough. Since I had two pins in it. It was six weeks out. I was looking forward to the rest of the season since I finally got a game in Jamaica, it was unfortunate,” the former West Indies under-19 player disclosed.
Playing for West Demerara in the ongoing Jaguars Franchise Three-day League, “Brandon” as he is known at home, cracked a scintillating 176 against East Bank just two weekends ago, which hinted that he is back to his best.
“The finger is coming along nicely with the rehabilitation work I have been doing. It was good to get some runs, when you get in you have to go and get a big score.”
The 2017/2018 season is set to come on October 26 and the player who spent his early days in the sport with his grandfather, Khemraj, at Ghandi Youth Organisation (GYO) has been spending a lot of hours trying to improve his game.
“I have been doing a lot of basic practice; learning to leave balls alone more and play later. I’m taking it step by step. Right now I’m focusing on the three-day league and trying to get some runs and then hopefully get selected for Guyana and get some runs there as well,” the player expressed.
