Leave on a high note, Shiv!

Editor: I am one of the biggest fans of Guyana and West Indies star batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. In fact, for two years, I have been advocating for him to be in the One Day Squad. He was so reliable that a friend of mine described him as “safe as money in the bank.” However, of late, he has not been performing as he should for a middle order batsman.{{more}}

Shiv, fondly called “Tiger,” was/is fighting hard to surpass Brian Lara’s 11,912, but he is still 46 runs away, with 11,867. Also, he is 40 years and eight months old and is consistently failing, having scored a total of 137 runs in two series against South Africa and England. In the recently concluded series against the Brits at home, Chanderpaul scored 0, 25, 7, 1 and 13 and the series in South Africa he totalled 91.

Despite his consistent performance over his two-decade test career, he is not a hot favourite of the selectors; hence the reason he was overlooked for the One Day Internationals and therefore I think that he should resign and call it a long day before he is kicked out.

Leave on a high note, Shiv, and forget being the top run scorer for the Windies. Bear in mind Lara reached his score in 130 tests and you are still behind after playing 164. Brian scored 34 centuries and Shiv 30. Lara’s average is 53.17 while the “Tiger’s” is 51.37.

Chanderpaul played more test matches than any other West Indian and he should be happy with that achievement, because it might take decades for someone to surpass his 164, especially since the selectors shuffle their players.

The WICB should however, retain him as a batting coach. He should continue to be among the players, which might be an inspiration to them.

Oscar Ramjeet