Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Shivnarine Chanderpaul Biography

Born on 16th of August, 1974 in Guyana, Shivnarine Chanderpaul is left handed batsman known for his unique stance, and his ability to occupy the crease for large periods of time. Chanderpaul was never in the mould of a typical Windies player in terms of either physique and batting style but he was perhaps their most effective batsman in the phase post Brian Lara’s retirement.

Background

Chanderpaul made his first-class debut at the age of 17, representing Guyana in 1991. He scored his maiden first-class century in 1993 against the Pakistani visitors. He was a part of the Windies U19 team which toured England in 1993 and ended up scoring at an average of 124.

Debut

He made his debut in the year 1994 against the English at his home ground in Guyana. After six months, he was included in the shorter format, against India. In his debut series, he scored 288 at an average above 55.

Rise

Batting along with the all-time great Brian Lara, he complimented the Trinidadian’s stroke play. Slowly scoring runs under the shadow of Lara, he became one of the more prolific and dependable batsman of the Windies team in the late 90’s. His best performances came during 98-99 season, as he scored his maiden centuries both in test and ODI’s. Shiv and Carl Hooper put together 226 runs in an ODI, which is till today the highest partnership for Windies team. After his foot surgery on 2000, he played with much greater flair scoring easily. He scored a 69-ball century against the Aussies which was the third fastest in Test cricket back then.

Fall

At the far end of his cricketing career, the runs diminished at a steeper rate. He could only average 15 in a home series of 3 tests against England in 2015. He was dropped from the team later on for his poor performance and eventually dropped from WICB contract list.

Captaincy

He was appointed as the captain of the side taking over Brian Lara. However, his captaincy did not flourish as much as his batting did. Many matches were lost and he could only manage a single victory. Citing the difficulties, he stepped down as the captain.

Shiv's Record in Numbers

He appeared for 164 test matches - the highest for a Windies player. He scored 11867 runs, with only 7 players scoring more than him in test cricket. He scored 8778 runs in his 266 ODI caps at a healthy average of 41. He accumulated 41 centuries and 2 double centuries across all formats of the game.

Retirement

Shiv retired on 23rd of January, 2016. He still plays domestic cricket for Guyana, sometimes even turning out to open the batting with his son, Tagenarine.