Chanderpaul: I haven’t retired from any form of cricket’

By Avenash Ramzan

-an irate Chanderpaul confirms he was asked to retire from ODIs, citing poor returns over the last year

“ I want to make it absolutely clear that I haven’t retired from any form of cricket,” the 36- year- old former West Indies captain vehemently stated.

“ I was told by the selectors and the coach that I would not be selected for one- day cricket, because in the opinion of the coach, I haven’t done anything during the past 12 months.” The current Selection Panel is headed by Guyanese Clyde Butts and includes Barbadian Courtney Browne and Jamaican Robert Haynes.

Chanderpaul argued that during the period Gibson is referring to, he was ranked in the Top 10 of the ICC ODI ranking, and as such, he cannot comprehend the motive behind the sacking.

“ They just drop me like that. The reason the coach is giving is that I didn’t do anything during the last year, yet I was ranked in the Top 10.

Another thing is that I was shuffled all over the batting order, number five, number seven and all these po sitions and they expect me to perform miracles,” he rebutted. “ I’m not sure if I would be selected in the Test team either.” At the recently concluded 50- over World Cup in Asia, the usually reliable left- hander was forced to bat at number five on two occasions, once as a opener, and as late as number seven in the other game.

He was also unceremoniously dropped for crucial games against India and England, only to return with a top- score of 44 not out in the ill fated quarter- final against Pakistan, where the Caribbean side subsided for an embarrassing 112 and lost by 10 wickets.

After that debacle, Gibson laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the senior players, presumably Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Chris Gayle, since they were by far the most experienced of the lot in Asia.

“ Our senior players have not performed and I am not especially happy with them,” Gibson had said at the post- match conference.

“ Our main batsmen haven’t performed consistently. We need some senior guys who have the hunger and the desire. We need to look at someone like Sachin Tendulkar who is the senior statesman of the Indian team, and goes out and gets runs almost every time.” Gibson did not go as far as saying they would be wholesale axing, saying that it is “ hard to say whether they [ the senior players] had played their last game.” He did indicate that he felt growth was urgent and necessary if West Indies are serious about rebuilding, especially because “ West Indies cricket for the last 10 years has been pretty much the same and we’ve had the same players.” ‘ MR. RELIABLE’ A veteran of 129 Tests, 268 ODIs and 22 T20Is, Chanderpaul disclosed that one of the selectors stated that once he performs “ exceptionally well at the regional level”, he would be “ considered for selection”, a proposition he said Gibson promptly overturned.

“ He ( Gibson) said that’s impossible,” Chanderpaul, often dubbed ‘ Mr.

Reliable’ for his dogged approach to batting, related. This r e – cent development is quite baffling, especially taking into consideration that the region is already bereft of players of the calibre of ‘ Tiger’. What is also bizarre is that countries like India, Australia, and South Africa, who have an abundance of quality players waiting in the wings, have chosen to remain with Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Jacques Kallis, players who are of the same age group as Shiv.

Numbers don’t lie: the Unity left- hander has been the most reliable West Indian batsman of the past decade and a half, and the most productive in Tests and ODIs behind the great Brian Charles Lara.

Chanderpaul, who made his international debut against England at Bourda in 1994, is one of only two West Indians, Lara being the other, in the Top 10 list of leading run- scorers in Test cricket. He is also the West Indies’ second highest run- scorer in ODIs behind Lara, and 16th overall.

The Wisden Cricketer- of- the- Year 2008 is currently rated eighth in the ICC Test batting rankings, and 21st on the ODI list. He has accumulated 9,063 runs at an average of 48.98 with 22 centuries and 55 fifties, while his 50- over stats read: 8,778 runs, average 41.60, 11 hundreds, 59 half- centuries.

On the website, www. shivisgreat. com, Chanderpaul is quoted as saying, “ I would do what I do, play cricket, even if nobody was willing to pay me for it. It is the one thing I am good at. It is the one thing I love doing all day, every day… West Indies cricket is my life.” It’s crystal clear where the man’s heart lies, yet the powers that be are trying the snuff the life out of it.

“ They just drop me like that. The reason the coach is giving is that I didn’t do anything during the last year, yet I was ranked in the Top 10.

I would do what I do, play cricket, even if nobody was willing to pay me for it. It is the one thing I am good at. It is the one thing I love doing all day, every day… West Indies cricket is my life.”

Source: Guyana Times