Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (born 16 August 1974) is a former Guyanese cricketer and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. He is the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for the West Indies, and captained them in 14 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals. A left-handed batsman, Chanderpaul is well known for his unorthodox batting stance, which has been described as crab-like. He has scored 20,000 runs in international cricket, and in 2008 he was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year by the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, and as the Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council.
He made his international debut at the age of 19, but did not score a century in international cricket for three years, prompting some criticism. Early in his career, he was plagued by injuries, and was even dubbed a hypochondriac until he had a piece of floating bone removed from his foot in 2000. Since then he has enjoyed consistent form, scoring over 11,000 runs in Test cricket and is currently the 7th highest run scorer of all time in the format. In January 2016 Chanderpaul announced his retirement from international cricket, at the age of 41.
Early life and career:
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was born in Unity Village, Guyana on 16 August 1974. His father, Kamraj Chanderpaul, helped to nurture his cricketing ability as a youngster.His ancestors were of Bhojpuri origin. By the age of eight, Chanderpaul was playing for his village’s cricket team, and was frequently bat for hours, being bowled at by various members of his family. His father initially took him to the Everest club in Georgetown, but there was not a place for him at the club, and so he instead joined the Demerara Cricket Club. He appeared for the club’s under-16 side while only ten. He was later given an opportunity at the Georgetown Cricket Club.
He made his first-class cricket debut for Guyana at the age of 17, facing Leeward Islands in the 199192 Red Stripe Cup. He was run out for a duck in his first innings, but scored 90 runs in the second. His List A debut followed a few days later, against Barbados, in which Chanderpaul did not get a chance to bat in a match with no result. He achieved his maiden first-class century in April 1993, playing for the West Indies Board President’s XI against the touring Pakistanis. After taking four wickets in the Pakistanis’ innings, Chanderpaul was one of three West Indians to score a century, scoring 140 runs, and remaining not out.
Career statistics:
Test
Matches: 164
Runs scored: 11867
100s/50s: 30/66
Top score: 203*
ODI
Matches: 268
Runs scored: 8778
100s/50s: 11/59
Top score: 150
