Shivnarine Chanderpaul is to many sports-loving Guyanese a hero. To others he is a cricket icon, an idol, worshipped by fans the world over.
His exploits on the cricket field are legendary. We, and here I include myself, have followed his career since he was a little boy, through his debut at the GCC, Bourda ground all the way to his recent series against South Africa with the West Indies team.
Chanderpaul is also the winner of the National Sports Commission (NSC) 2007 Sportsman of the Year award.
He is a quiet, likeable individual but beneath his lithe, wiry frame, lies the heart and courage of a tiger.
Being an international cricketer is not an easy job. The demands of playing international cricket almost non-stop must tell on the body and the mind. It also means that one is required to spend a large amount of time away from one’s family.
But it does have its rewards. One gets to travel all over the world, to stay at some of the finest hotels in the world and to earn a livelihood that, by Caribbean standards at least, places one among the nouveau rich.
But being an international cricketer, an icon and a hero, comes with certain responsibilities one of which is that one is required to play for one’s country whenever needed.
This is why the recent statement by Chanderpaul that he would unable to play for the Guyana Twenty20 team which is set to begin its title defence on Sunday because of a sinus problem, has rung alarm bells.
This is the second time after a major tour that Chanderpaul has pulled out of representing his native land citing injury.
Last year, following the West Indies tour of England, Chanderpaul signed up and played with English county side Durham.
Yet when it was time to play for Guyana in the 2007 KFC Cup, the left-hander pulled out citing injury.
Now, days after the West Indies have completed their disastrous tour of South Africa, Chanderpaul has informed the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) that he would be unavailable for the first match against Bermuda because of a sinus problem.
While one is not disputing the fact that the left-hander is indeed not fit enough to play for Guyana, the late withdrawal none-the-less has given fuel to the widely-held belief that the left-hander is reluctant to play under Ramnaresh Sarwan.
One would recall Chanderpaul canvassing for Gayle to be retained as West Indies captain while in South Africa ahead of Sarwan and his statements for his support of Gayle.
It’s not that Chanderpaul has not played under Sarwan’s captaincy. He has. But more times that not he has not played, including the inaugural Stanford Twenty20 tournament in 2006.
Chanderpaul is Guyana’s best batsman and a vital cog in the wheel of any batting line-up. The Twenty20 team needs him in order to make a successful title defence.
Chanderpaul must guard against developing a reputation of being unwilling to represent his country, which I am sure is definitely not the case.
One can recall another former West Indies captain Carl Hooper, who rightly or wrongly, had developed a reputation of either arriving late to represent Guyana in regional tournaments or not arriving at all.
Hooper of course, had made his home in Australia and
it was the flight logistics of getting to Guyana which was the problem. One will never know.
Chanderpaul now resides in the US and so is not likely to come here after a tour like Sarwan or Sewnarine Chattergoon.
Chanderpaul’s non-arrival also robs the NSC Sports Awards of having its biggest star when that event is held tomorrow night.
It is understood that the NSC would have requested that Chanderpaul not leave with the Twenty20 team tomorrow but leave sometime Saturday instead in order to attend the ceremony.
One would hope that Chanderpaul does live up to his word and does play for Guyana in the remaining Twenty20 matches (providing the team gets past Bermuda) so as to scotch the speculations that (a) he is too big to play for his country and (b) that he is reluctant to play under Sarwan.
