Shivnarine Chanderpaul (born 16 August 1974) is a cricketer, and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. He is the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for the West Indies and has captained them in 14 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals. Chanderpaul is currently ranked number four test batsman in the world in the ICC official rankings.
A West Indian cricketer of Indian origin, the left-handed Chanderpaul is known for his doggedness and ability to stick on the wicket for long hours. He is known in the cricketing world for his unorthodox front-on batting stance, although he shifts his body into a more conventional position when he plays the ball, thus making him a prolific scorer on both sides of the wicket. Chanderpaul’s first notable impact on Test cricket was as being the last batting partner of Brian Lara when Lara broke Gary Sobers’ record of 365 not out in the fifth and final Test against England in 1993–94. Lara went on to make 375 before he was caught off Andrew Caddick’s bowling, sharing a 219-run stand with Chanderpaul, who was left not out on 75.
Chanderpaul made his first Test century in his 19th Test match – after having scored 15 half-centuries in the preceding 18 matches.
Chanderpaul’s best first class score is 303* versus Jamaica for Guyana, and, despite his reputation as a dogged batsman, he has also made the fourth fastest century in Test cricket, scoring three figures in just 69 balls at the Bourda, Guyana, also in the 2002–03 series against Australia. He was named captain of West Indies in the first Test versus South Africa in March 2005 in Guyana. He emulated Graham Dowling to become only the second player to make a double century on debut as a Test captain, scoring an unbeaten 200 and making a sporting declaration in the first Test. Chanderpaul remains one of the most recognisable faces in all of the West Indies, particularly his native Guyana, and he has come a long way from his first fifty in his first Test versus England in 1993–94 at Bourda to his current status as a former captain.
Chanderpaul holds a number of batting records
Chanderpaul is one of only six players to have gone 1,000 minutes in Test cricket without conceding his wicket. He has done this four times, and is the only player to have done so more than once.- He is also the only batsman in the history of Test cricket to have faced 1,000 consecutive balls without getting out.
- He is the one of only four batsmen to have averaged more than 100 in two different calendar years (*qualification 400 runs) and the only one other than Sir Donald Bradman to do so in consecutive years.
- Chanderpaul has scored the fourth fastest Test Hundred off 69 balls in the history of the game against Australia at Georgetown, Guyana.
- He is currently the highest run scorer for the West Indies, with over 10,000 test runs, having overtaken Viv Richards on 17 May 2009, and Brian Lara on 17 May 2012.
- He is one of only three players to score half-centuries in seven consecutive Test innings.
- He is the second West Indies batsman after Brian Lara (11,953 runs) to score 10,000 or more runs in test cricket.
- He is the most capped Test player of West Indian Cricket history as he has now stood in 140 Test Matches.