Staff Writer – Archi
It’s an end of an era for West Indies cricket as veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the seventh highest Test match run maker in history, announced his international retirement, 22 years after his debut.
The 41-year-old former captain from Guyana ends his Test career on 11,867 runs, just 86 short of the West Indies all-time record held by Brian Lara.
Chanderpaul, a gritty and stubborn left-hander, made his debut against England in March 1994, in Guyana, hitting a half-century as the West Indies won by an innings and 44 runs.
Chanderpaul’s highest score in his 164 Tests was 203 not out — he achieved that figure twice, against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2012 and South Africa in Georgetown in 2005 and he finished with an average of 51.37.
He hit a total of 30 Test centuries and 66 fifties.
Photo courtesy www.sportskeeda.com
However, the writing was on the wall for Chanderpaul was clear when he was dropped for the two-Test series against Australia in June last year after making just 92 runs in the three Tests against England.
Chanderpaul posted a top score of 150 in his 268 ODIs, finishing with an average of 41.60 with his last 50-over match coming in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final loss to Pakistan in Dhaka.
He made 8,778 one-day international runs with 11 centuries.
“The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) acknowledges the invaluable contribution Shiv has made to the game globally and we wish him all the best,” WICB president Dave Cameron said.
Chanderpaul’s former teammate and West Indian batting legend Brian Lara has said that the people in his country don’t even understand the veteran’s contribution to Caribbean cricket.
“That guy with the most Test matches for the West Indies, playing for over 20 years, I don’t think people in the West Indies understand exactly his contribution,” he added.
“I was very disappointed that Shiv was not allowed a couple of more Test matches, not necessarily to break the record but to have a proper send-off. Something I think he is very disappointed (about) and unfortunately that did not happen,” Lara said.
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