West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul announces retirement from international cricket

West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has officially retired from international cricket. The decision comes seven months after selectors opted to discard the veteran and push for a youth-oriented policy.

Chanderpaul, who was left out before the home series against Australia last June, said at the time he felt he deserved the opportunity to play one final series despite a poor return in domestic cricket before the squad was selected.

The WICB said in a release that Chanderpaul formally notified the board “in an email that he will no longer be available for selection for West Indies”. “The WICB acknowledges the invaluable contribution Shiv has made to the game globally, and we wish him all the best,” WICB president Dave Cameron said.

The 41-year-old left-hander made his Test debut against England in 1994 and went on to amass 11,867 runs at an average of 51.37 in his 164 tests for the West Indies.

Chanderpaul is the seventh highest in the list of all time top run getters, finishing behind Brian Lara’s 11,953 as the second most prolific West Indian batsman.

He scored 30 test centuries and 66 half-centuries and had a high score of 203 not out. He also scored 8,778 runs in 268 one-day internationals at 41.60.

Chanderpaul’s quirky batting stance defied the cricket’s coaching manuals. However, soft hands with a superb eye allowed him to flick, dab and poke the ball into gaps in the field and quietly accumulate runs.

A low conversion rate of 50s to 100s early in his career was rectified after foot surgery removed some floating bone chips and allowed him to play without pain.

Chanderpaul’s calm demeanour held together an increasingly brittle West Indies batting lineup after the retirement of Lara and many opposition teams targeted him as a prized wicket.

The desire to return to international cricket was visible as Chanderpaul continued playing domestic first class cricket, most recently just three days ago in the semi-final of the Nagico Super50 one-day tournament for Guyana.