Typically, great West Indian batters don’t overindulge in defensive play. To recall names like Headley, the three Ws, Kanhai, Sobers, Richards, and Lara is to summon images of batters dictating terms to even the best bowlers. Chanderpaul was not of that genre. Whereas those players thrilled the crowds and kept the scoreboard racing with full-bloodied strokes to all corners, Chanderpaul nudged, tapped, deflected, guided, glided. If he were, on the whole, less compelling to watch, he was frequently as effective. He might not have done his job with as much aplomb, but he did it well just the same.
That is not to say the Guyanese was limited in range; he was the proprietor of almost every stroke in the book, as he showed in his 69-ball century at Bourda in 2003, or during his 1996 assault on Shane Warne at Sydney that was only ended by what the legspinner claimed was perhaps the best delivery of his career. It should also be remembered that there was a time when he opened the batting in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and his scoring rate was far from pedestrian.
Yet it was evident that Chanderpaul took to heart a simple and timeless truth of batting: the longer you occupy the crease, the more runs you are likely to score. Only Geoffrey Boycott (190.59) and Rahul Dravid (189) faced more deliveries per innings than Chanderpaul (181.65), and the West Indian has stood undefeated (49 times as opposed 32 for Boycott and 23 for Dravid) on more occasions.