Shiv: One day at a time
West Indies star batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul says he is eager and ready to make the transition from Test cricket to One-Day cricket, as the team prepares for the Digicel One-Day Series against Australia.
During the three-match Digicel Test Series, Chanderpaul was in amazing form, making 442 runs at an average of 147.33 including two centuries and three half-centuries to win the Man Of The Series award.
On Sunday afternoon the Windies had a two-hour training session as they prepare for the Digicel One-Day Series starts on Tuesday at the scenic Arnos Vale in St Vincent.“In any one-day game you try to score off as many balls as you can. You don’t always have to play big shots. At the end of the day, if you take 50 balls and score 40 to 50 runs, that would be ideal for One-Day cricket. Some people obviously score a bit quicker, but if you can get around a run-a-ball you would always be in business,” said Chanderpaul.
In his outstanding career the inspirational Chanderpaul has made 7405 runs in 231 ODIs at an average of 40.24. His career-best score is 150. He said team spirit would be vitally important in order to beat the Aussies in the upcoming matches. “If we can play together as a team and play well for 100 overs, I don’t see why we won’t be able to beat Australia. We have seen the way they play in the Test series – when you give them an opportunity they seize it. It’s the shorter version of the game now and we can’t give in to them. We have to back ourselves and be confident."
Chanderpaul did not play in the Digicel Twenty20 International, which the West Indies won in Barbados last Friday, which the West Indies won by 7 wickets. He said he was delighted with the performance of the young replacements – Xavier Marshall, William Perkins, Andre Fletcher and Kemar Roach – who were drafted into the team.
“The good thing was that they asked questions and they really enjoyed the match,” Chanderpaul noted. “They are all looking to learn about cricket and life at this level and that’s very important.”
SQUAD: Chris Gayle (Captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (Vice Captain), Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Patrick Browne, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Xavier Marshall, Keiron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor.
* SOURCE: West Indies Cricket Board.