Numbers Game

Chanderpaul takes centrestage

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has taken over the mantle from Brian Lara as West Indies' mainstay in the batting line-up

S Rajesh
S Rajesh
22-Jun-2007


Shivnarine Chanderpaul won't always please the purists, but no-one can argue with the kind of numbers he has produced © Getty Images
From the evidence of the just-concluded four-Test series between England and West Indies, the retirement of Brian Lara has made little difference - West Indies got swamped, and a left-handed middle-order batsman scored a deluge of runs. The difference was a minor one - the panache and flair of Lara was replaced by a style far more workmanlike, but that can't diminish from what has been a batting exhibition of rare quality from Shivnarine Chanderpaul this summer. Throughout his career he has played second fiddle to Lara - and sometimes even third fiddle to Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan - and while his technique might not please purists, you just can't argue with the kind of numbers he has stacked up in his 13-year international career.
At the very start of his Test career, Chanderpaul showed the kind of consistency that has eluded much bigger names - he scored 11 half-centuries in his first 22 innings. A rate of one 50-plus score every two innings was obviously impossible to keep up, but Chanderpaul has still managed a one-in-three ratio (59 such scores in 178 innings).
Talk about the best batsmen in Test cricket over the last three years, and it's unlikely his name will crop up - Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid are more likely to figure in the argument, but the stats tell a different story. With an average of nearly 59, Chanderpaul is fourth in the list - ahead of both Kallis and Dravid - since June 2004.
Batsmen with 50-plus Test average in the last three years (at least 2000 runs since June 2004)
Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Ricky Ponting 32 3349 69.77 13/ 14
Mohammad Yousuf 24 2815 67.02 12/ 6
Younis Khan 25 2611 59.34 7/ 10
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 29 2528 58.79 7/ 13
Jacques Kallis 29 2590 57.55 8/ 15
Rahul Dravid 31 2511 55.80 7/ 15
Kumar Sangakkara 26 2385 55.46 7/ 9
Kevin Pietersen 27 2553 52.10 8/ 10
Brian Lara 24 2243 50.97 9/ 4
Chanderpaul's task has been made harder by the fact that through two-thirds of his career he has batted at lower than No.4 in the line-up. Given West Indies' notoriously brittle lower order, that has often meant he hasn't always had the opportunity to pace and play his innings as he'd like to. That, as the table below suggests, has hardly deterred him. Among all batsmen who've scored at least 2500 runs at Nos. 5 and 6, Chanderpaul's average of 53.53 puts him in fourth position, ahead of far more fancied names like Allan Border, Colin Cowdrey and Inzamam-ul-Haq. In fact, his average is just one lesser than Steve Waugh, the man who excelled in the art of batting with the tail (though admittedly, it was a far more competent tail than what Chanderpaul has been saddled with).
Best batsmen at Nos. 5 and 6 (at least 2500 Test runs)
Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Garry Sobers 63 4509 55.66 15/ 19
Andy Flower 58 4372 55.34 12/ 24
Steve Waugh 150 9919 54.50 30/ 45
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 70 5300 53.53 13/ 32
Allan Border 94 5627 52.10 15/ 32
Mohammad Yousuf 54 3790 47.97 12/ 18
Doug Walters 60 4003 47.65 11/ 23
Clive Lloyd 86 5163 47.36 14/ 27
Colin Cowdrey 49 2790 47.28 7/ 16
Inzamam-ul-Haq 58 3014 47.09 9/ 19
Throughout the four Tests against England, Chanderpaul's resistance was a constant, but so was the spineless batting from the rest of his mates. The one exception to the rule was Dwayne Bravo, who got starts every time he came out to bat. In fact, Bravo is fast becoming Chanderpaul's most trusted ally: they batted together five times in the series, and each time they put together at least 50 runs - their stands read 92, 88, 86, 68, and 59, with most of those runs coming when West Indies were struggling.
In fact, among all fifth-wicket pairs, the Chanderpaul-Bravo combination is rapidly climbing the charts. They haven't yet got to the 1000-run mark for the fifth wicket (though overall they've scored 1176 runs at 58.80 per partnership), but with just 66 runs needed, that shouldn't take long. What's remarkable is their tendency to get starts when they bat together - in 20 hits together (for all wickets), they topped 50 runs 11 times.
As the table below indicates, Chanderpaul is already a member of the most successful fifth-wicket pairing, with fellow Guyanese Carl Hooper. The other interesting aspect is the presence of Steve Waugh in the list - not once, not twice, but three times.
Best fifth-wicket pairs in Tests (at least 750 partnership runs)
Pair Partnership runs Dismissals Average p'ship 100/ 50 stands
Chanderpaul-Hooper 942 12 78.50 3/ 1
Dravid-Laxman 1200 16 75.00 5/ 1
Ponting-Steve Waugh 1649 22 74.95 6/ 5
Butcher-Sobers 910 13 70.00 3/5
Border-Steve Waugh 1384 21 65.90 3/ 5
Blewett-Steve Waugh 1062 17 62.47 4/ 2
Fletcher-Greig 1010 17 59.41 2/ 6
Chanderpaul-Bravo 934 16 58.37 2/ 7
Consistency has been the hallmark of Chanderpaul's career, and it shows up even in his handling of pace and spin - it's obvious from the numbers below that he is equally adept against both. The only two England bowlers who dismissed him in the four Tests were Monty Panesar and Ryan Sidebottom. Panesar's two successes against Chanderpaul cost him 130 runs while Sidebottom conceded 67, which was still better than Steve Harmison's plight, though - 130 runs from 213 balls to Chanderpaul, without a single success to show for his efforts.
Chanderpaul versus pace and spin since May 2001
Type Runs Balls Dismissals Average
Pace 2548 5626 48 53.08
Spin 1809 3994 33 54.82
As Chanderpaul's career summary shows, he has run up pretty impressive stats against most teams, though his numbers against Australia and New Zealand could do with a lift. The other stats which are skewed are his home and away numbers - he averages 54.07 at home and just 41.66 overseas. The rate at which he is getting the runs, though, that anomaly could soon be rectified.

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo.