Players are not keen to represent West Indies, they are happy to make money playing T20 leagues: Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Legendary batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul criticised the current generation of West Indies cricketers for preferring franchise cricket over national. The Nicholas Pooran-led side was knocked out in Round 1 stage of the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2022. The two-time T20 World champions also faced shocking defeats against Scotland and Ireland, which did not help their cause.  

The likes of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine were not a part of the West Indies T20 World Cup squad despite excelling across the globe in T20 tournaments. Shimron Hetmyer missed out on the flight to Australia for cryptic reasons while the T20 giants like Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard have moved on. Chanderpaul feels that his generation was different, stating “We played for pride." Notably, Chanderpaul played 164 Tests for the West Indies in which he amassed more than 11,000 runs at an average of above 51.

The players don’t focus on having to represent West Indies: Shivnarine Chanderpaul 

Chanderpaul, who was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame recently, mentioned about the number of T20 leagues going around has made national players lose focus as they don’t have to depend on West Indies Cricket. He added that the players are satisfied to make money through different leagues rather than focussing on West Indies cricket.  

“There are a lot of Premier [T20] leagues around the world. West Indies cricket is not what these guys would depend on these days, so I don’t think they’re as keen. They can go elsewhere and play and not focus on having to represent West Indies,” Chanderpaul told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. “Whatever comes up, the guys are happy to make as much as they can while their cricket career lasts."

West Indies are scheduled to play two Tests against Australia starting from November 30 and all eyes will be on their players' performance especially after the agonising exit in the recent ICC event.