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Shivnarine Chanderpaul Opens Up About His Unconventional Batting Stance; Reveals What Made Him Unique

Shivnarine Chanderpaul [X]Shivnarine Chanderpaul [X]

Post-Brian Lara era, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unarguably the best batter for the West Indies. Besides his incredible consistency, Chanderpaul was also known for his unconventional batting stance. 

Normally, a batter is expected to bat side-on; it is considered the norm. However, Chanderpaul defied all cricketing logic with his fully open-chested stance. While it might really trouble many batters to even imitate his stance, Chanderpaul carried it off with grace and ease. 

Chanderpaul reveals why he batted open-chested

The West Indian legend is currently the Head Coach of the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons. In a recent media interaction with the franchise arranged by Parimatch, Chanderpaul revealed the reason behind his unconventional and unique batting stance. 

The anchor of the event asked Chanderpaul - Was there any inspiration behind your unique stance? To this, the southpaw replied - 

" In the initial days, I had a very side-on stance. But as a result of that I used to fall over. So, I opened up my stance. Thus, by the time the bowler was about deliver the ball, I was back side-on."

Chanderpaul's playing career

Shivnarine Chanderpaul played 164 Test matches for the West Indies. In these matches, he scored 11,867 runs at an average of 51.37. He had 30 Test Hundreds under his belt with a highest score of 203*. Chanderpaul also played 268 ODIs for West Indies and scored 8,778 runs in them at an average of 41.60. In this format of the game, he had 11 centuries and 59 half-centuries, with the highest score being 150. 

Besides his superb consistency and unconventional batting stance, Chanderpaul was also known for his resilience and patience. The West Indies have been known to produce great players throughout their history. However, Chanderpaul served them at a stage when Caribbean cricket was on a decline. Despite whatever was going around him, Chanderpaul carved out a brilliant career and played some brilliant knocks for the team. 

Chanderpaul looking To bring the Falcons back on track

Chanderpaul will, however, now look to bring back the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons on track. They have lost all four of their games so far in CPL 2024, and thus, they need to start winning games quickly to stay alive in the tournament.