The limpet

… A clingy crab is born

1974: BIRTH of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. When he made his debut against England in Georgetown in 1993-94, he was the first teenager to play in a Test for West Indies since Elquemedo Willett in 1972-73.

Chanderpaul’s slim frame encases the ideal temperament for a Test batter. He scored only two hundreds in his first 53 Tests, but improved that ratio significantly after that. His career run graph took a turn upwards from India’s tour in 2006 – he scored seven hundreds, 14 half-centuries and averaged 73.09 from 23 Tests in the next three years.

In 2005 he had been appointed captain and celebrated with a double-hundred on his home ground in Guyana.
But he quit the next year to concentrate on his batting. From then on, Chanderpaul became a run-machine, reaching 10 000 Test runs in his 140th Test, in 2012 against Australia – in characteristic fashion, while trying to save the match. He averaged 98.7 in 2012, scoring three hundreds, including his second double.

He hung at the crease like a limpet during the many times the side was in trouble, and churned out hundreds, seemingly at will. But three years later the unthinkable happened – Chanderpaul, at the age of 40, was dropped from the West Indies side after scoring only one half-century in ten innings.
And after he was overlooked for a contract in December, Chanderpaul announced his retirement from international cricket. (CricInfo)