Dear Editor,
Many will wish to celebrate Guyanese and West Indian batting star Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s achievement for reaching the pinnacle of Test cricket by becoming the first Guyanese batsman to be ranked ICC number one in Test cricket. It is said that discipline and fighting sprit are the essential qualities in any sporting exercise if one is to come out on top, and Chanderpaul displays those traits.
Chanderpaul’s entry into Test cricket represents one of those great coincidences of history. A last-minute withdrawal by Carl Hooper due to injury from the second Test match, England versus the West Indies, at the evergreen Bourda, saw then West Indies coach Rohan Kanhai, captain Richie Richardson and the late Roy Fredricks, then a member of the West Indies selection panel, opting for Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the replacement rather than Phil Simmons. There was some resentment from some other selectors especially, Joey Carew, chairman of the selection panel, but the Chanderpaul selection prevailed, and as CLR James would argue it is “Cricket beyond the boundary.”
I was present at Bourda on that fateful Saturday morning in March 1994 when debutant Chanderpaul walked out on the lush Bourda outfield to thunderous applause to face Chris Lewis, a Guyanese-born English fast bowler. He never let those who stood for him down. He scored 63 and remained consistent throughout the Test series, with three other half centuries at a critical time of the West Indies innings. No one will ever forget the last Test match in St Johns, Antigua, when Chanderpaul batted through with Brian Lara as he broke the world batting record of Sir Garfield Sobers.
The recent series against Australia gave full evidence of the determination and strength of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. When the Australians rocked the West Indies, it was only the Guyanese Tiger that hunted the Kangaroos. It took a controversial LBW decision to eventually get him out in the last Test match. At present Chandrapaul follows Brian Lara and Vivian Richards with the third highest Test aggregate in the West Indies.
History has once again repeated itself with a Guyanese cricketer placing Guyana on the map of the world. Internationally, Guyana has now become synonymous with the name Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Hail the Tiger, now the world’s best.
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Rampersaud.
The achievement of Shiv (current ICC world #1) is really impressive and commendable. To all Guyanese this must be seen as a source of immeasurable pride. In turn, I would wish the authorities in Guyana duly honor this champion. One way is by endowing our own knighthood – a national award. The other is by erecting a sort of statue in his hometown or, better yet, name the national stadium after him.
Finally, in as much as Chanderpaul has achieved, is in as much a reflection of the support program that was in place for his development. I would only wish that all the things that led to his results today serve as a guide and a paragon of what can be achieved by Guyanese sports persons when they get purposeful support from those resposible for guiding their development and participation in sports.
On the test aggregate front, The Shiv is # 4 in the West Indies hierarchy. Ahead of him are Trinidad’s mercurial Lara, the explosive Vivian Richards and the incomparable Garfield Sobers.
The Shiv should effortlessly pass Sobers’ total of 8032 in the next test he plays. By June 2009 he should leapfrog Richards’ total of 8540, thereby landing in the # 2 slot behind the Prince of Port of Spain. Of course this is contingent upon him remaining healthy and no political shenanigans emerge as he approaches these revered records.
From my vantage point I do not foresee a West Indian scaling Lara’s Mt. Everest like feat – 11953. Its well nigh impossible!
Congrats Shiv!
i would not want to think that the name Chanderpaul has become synonymous with Guyana but it should be synonymous with brilliant dedicated and hard working people of guyana.
that is the absolute protrayal of Chanderpaul (TIGER)
Kanhai was No 1 in Jan 1966 per archived ICC ratings