I won’t be playing forever – Chanderpaul
NORTH SOUND, ANTIGUA:
“I WON’T be playing forever, you know,” were the words of Windies batting icon Shivnarine Chanderpaul when asked by The Gleaner about his plans for the near future.
The 43-year-old left-handed batsman, currently on duty as captain of the Guyana Jaguars in the Cricket West Indies Regional Super50 Cup, said that in the near future, he sees himself being a coach and sharing what he has learnt in his 26 years since debuting for Guyana with the younger generation of players.
“Hopefully, I’ll do some work with the youngsters – coaching, or something,” Chanderpaul said. “I’ll try to help them. There’s still a lot of room to be a coach and help the fellows.”
In recent times, Chanderpaul has been a polarising figure among Windies cricket fans. His last appearance for the West Indies was in a Test match, where he made 25 and a duck against England in Bridgetown, Barbados, in 2015. Since then, some have said that he should have been given another chance with the Windies to go out in style, while others have questioned why he is still playing, even today.
However, Chanderpaul said that he is still active because he wants to get out on the field, teach younger players, and lead by example.
“I don’t know. I’m here to help these fellows,” he said. “The guys, they listen and try and learn as much as they can. That’s my role right now –to try and help the guys and pass on whatever knowledge I gained over the years playing international cricket, so I just want to pass on as much information as I can to these guys to help them.”
Chanderpaul started playing for Guyana back in 1992.