Underappreciated and overburdened

In spite of all the problems that the West Indies are having of late, in the cricketing arena one player has emerged unscathed from the rubble and enhanced his reputation even further - Shivnarine Chanderpaul. For a long time he belong to the Fleming-Dravid school of batsmanship, scoring 50's, staying at the crease for long periods of time, but only occasionally crossing 100. Rahul Dravid has ventured out of this league, though in the past year he seems to be coming back to the fold. Similarly, Chanderpaul, in the final third of his career is proving to his detractors that style (ahem, Lara) is not everything. Peter Roebuck discusses this determined fighter who, more often than not, is left to plough a lone furrow for the Windies.

Altogether he has played eight Tests in the last 12 months, and has collected 1635 runs in the three formats at an average of 86.05. Along the way he has added six centuries to his tally. Nor has he punished mugs. Besides the Australians, these runs have been scored against England and South Africa in their own backyards. It is a mighty achievement.