Nudging to the top
by DANIEL SINGHAlthough Shivnarine Chanderpaul missed out on individual honours at the recent International Cricket Council awards ceremony in South Africa, his status as a leading batsman in the cricketing world has certainly been enhanced in the last few years.
Having been nominated in three categories for the 2007 ICC awards -- International Player-of-the-Year, Test Player-of-the-Year and One-Day International Player-of-the-Year -- the Tiger was short listed as one of four cricketers for the International Player-of-the-Year award alongside the likes of Ricky Ponting, Mohammad Yousuf and Kevin Pietersen, big names in world cricket these days.
While Chanderpaul was omitted from the test team-of-the-year, he ended up being the only West Indian selected to the one-day international team-of-the year, a feat not even batting genius Brian Lara, who was also nominated for the Test Player-of-the-Year award, was able to achieve at this year’s ceremony.
For the record, during the period under review (August 9, 2006 to August 8, 2007), Chanderpaul amassed 651 runs at an average of 81.37 in six tests and 1,260 runs at 57.27 in 31 one-day internationals.
So dominant has been Chanderpaul’s batting for the West Indies that he has been described as being in “a rich vein of form” or in the “form of his life” in the last few months.
Certainly, he was Lara-like in both the test and one-day series on the recent tour of England, following which he was able to secure a contract to play for Durham, and from all reports, has continued to produce the goods.
S. Rajesh, statistics editor for cricinfo.com, commented recently that, from the evidence of the test series between England and West Indies last summer, the retirement of Lara has made little difference -- the West Indies got swamped and a left-handed middle-order batsman scored heavily.
The difference, said Rajesh, was a minor one in that the panache and flair of Lara was replaced by a style far more workmanlike, but this could not diminish from what was a batting exhibition of rare quality from Chanderpaul.
Chanderpaul has played under the shadows of Lara almost throughout his career, but his consistency has rarely been in question from the time he made his debut in Guyana as a 19-year old in 1994, a point highlighted by the stats editor as follows:
Firstly, after 11 half centuries in his first 22 innings, Chanderpaul has now has passed 50 a total of 59 times in 178 innings, a one-in-three ratio.
Secondly, over the last three years, Chanderpaul is fourth in the list of leading batsmen in world cricket with an average of 58.79. Those in front of him are Ponting (69.77), Yousuf (67.02) and Younis Khan (59.34).
Thirdly, Chanderpaul is equally good against any type of bowling. Since May 2001, he has been averaging 53.08 against pace and 54.82 against spin.
Rajesh further suggested that the only two aspects of Chanderpaul’s statistics that need rectifying are his averages against Australia and New Zealand, which are both under 40, as well as his home and away numbers––54.07 and 41.66, respectively.
That said, Chanderpaul has no doubt been one of two outstanding features that have given fans at least something to shout about in the midst of the madness that has now become the regional team.
One is no longer present, arguably as a result of a combination of choice and circumstances, while the other continues to stand head and shoulders above everyone else, particularly exemplified in England recently.
These two features have of course been the batting of Lara and Chanderpaul. One of these features was dynamic, the other is dogged; one was exciting, the other enduring.
Having started out as a batsman who many felt was not suited to limited overs cricket, Chanderpaul is now a premier batsman in the shorter form of the game, including his brief career so far in 20-20 matches.
There was a time when Chanderpaul could not convert 50s into 100s and could barely return the ball from the covers. He has now counted 16 centuries in 104 tests and easily patrols deep third man or the sweeper whenever he has to.
Despite his reputation as a dogged batsman, Chanderpaul still has the fourth fastest century in test cricket––at the time, it was the third fastest. He is now pushing beyond a 46 test average, and his one-day numbers have been steadily climbing toward 40.
His nomination and short listing for ICC awards came as no surprise, as he is the only batsman in the current West Indies team who has consistently gotten better with time, and who keeps looking for ways to improve his game.
Getting selected on the one-day international team-of-the-year, therefore, is just reward for someone who knows how to nudge his way around in an innings.
And never mind his failed captaincy stint, the man from the Unity countryside in Guyana is clearly now also nudging his way to the top.