That man Chanderpaul

It was probably a good thing that Shivnarine Chanderpaul was rested for the rained out final One Day International between the West Indies and Sri Lanka in St Lucia. It was also probably a good thing that the match was a washout, as there can be no rum shop talk about whether the “Tiger” was too valuable to the team to be rested when he was once again needed to ensure victory. But coming after a momentous week at the Queen’s Park Oval, Chanderpaul had earned his rest.

Port of Spain may have its Prince in the retired Brian Lara, but there is no doubt as to who was the Darling of the Oval and of the whole West Indies after the Second Test Match and the first two ODIs.

In the Test, Chanderpaul’s composed, unbeaten 86, along with Ramnaresh Sarwan’s match-winning 102, in the second innings made sure of the West Indies series-equalling victory.

Then came his tour de force in the pulsating finish to the first ODI, when he hit a four and a six off the last two balls from one of Sri Lanka’s two champion bowlers, Chaminda Vaas, to snatch an improbable win for the home team. The last shot for six was a storybook ending to the match. But it was the savage drive for four off the preceding ball, straight past the bowler and through a flailing mid-off that set up the incredible ending. Think back and look at the replays of that penultimate ball when they are shown again. There is no doubt that Chanderpaul knew what he had to do, as he launched himself into the shot, driving with aggression not usually associated with this most undemonstrative of batsmen. The final six, as exhilarating as it was, in a way, was almost a formality as Vaas strove for the yorker again, only to serve up a full ball, summarily dispatched by the wide-eyed and pumped up “Tiger”.

But Chanderpaul was not finished with the visitors. The travesty of his not being named Man-of-the-Match was rectified in the second ODI, with his 42-ball 52, which wrested the initiative from the Sri Lankans, after the West Indies were wobbling at 18 for 3. His calculated onslaught on Kaushalya Weeraratne, hitting him for four, six and four off consecutive balls, even inspired a return to form for the talented but exasperating Marlon Samuels.

That week in Trinidad was but the climax of a momentous fortnight for Chanderpaul. It began with him sweeping the major awards of the West Indies Players’ Association, with his peers voting him international cricketer of the year, Test cricketer of the year and one-day international cricketer of the year, for his performances in 2007. And then he was named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, perhaps the ultimate accolade for any international cricketer.

Indeed, his performances in 2007, in which he averaged 111.60 in Tests and enjoyed his best year in ODIs, hitting 913 runs, including four centuries, at 76.08, followed by his performances against Sri Lanka, with his average over the eight Tests since Lara’s departure, dropping slightly to 91.44, and his average in ODIs rising to 96.66 in 11 matches, have prompted the doyen of West Indies cricket writers, Tony Cozier, to call him the “rock” of West Indies batting, likening him to the legendary George Headley, the Atlas who in the early years of West Indies Test cricket, carried the team on his shoulders. Surely, there can be no higher praise for a West Indian batsman or any batsman for that matter.

The 33 year-old Chanderpaul has now played 109 Tests and scored 7,559 runs, at an average of 47.24. Only Courtney Walsh (132), Lara (130), Sir Viv Richards (121), Desmond Haynes (116) and Clive Lloyd (110) have played more for the West Indies and, barring injury or disaster, he should soon overtake the great Lloyd. Only Lara (11,912), Richards (8,540) and Sir Gary Sobers (8,032) have scored more for West Indies, Chanderpaul having overtaken Gordon Greenidge (7,558), Lloyd (7,515) and Haynes (7,487) in the just completed series. And of West Indians to have played more than 20 Tests, only Headley (60.83), Sir Everton Weekes (58.61), Sobers (57.78), Sir Clyde Walcott (56.68), Lara (53.17), Richards (50.23), Sir Frank Worrell (49.48), Seymour Nurse (47.60) and Rohan Kanhai (47.53) average higher, with Chanderpaul once again just overtaking Lloyd (46.67).

In addition, Chanderpaul has scored 17 centuries and 46 fifties. Only Lara (34), Sobers (26), Richards (24), Greenidge (19), Lloyd (19) and Haynes (18) have scored more hundreds, and only Lara (48) has made more half centuries. Obviously there is room for improvement in Chanderpaul’s conversion rate.

Chanderpaul would never be considered the most elegant, entertaining, awesome or naturally gifted of any of these stroke-players and master batsmen, but for sheer consistency, dependability, determination and bloody-mindedness, and the ability to deliver when it matters, Chanderpaul deserves his place among the greats of the West Indies.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is perhaps now at the peak of his powers and at the zenith of his career. He has expressed the hope that he can continue playing at the highest level for another three years. Long may the “Tiger” roar! And if he continues in his present rich vein of form, who knows what other batting records he might break?