Tony Becca
WHEN IT comes to batting and fielding, Shivnarine Chander-paul is one of the most successful batsmen the West Indies have produced and history will remember him as such.
When it comes to captaincy, however, the Guyanese was a failure and will be remembered as such.
In 14 Test matches as captain, the West Indies lost 10, they won only one, and with the team sometimes missing most of the region's top players and divided even when it was at full strength, with coach Bennett King pulling the strings and calling the tune, although he was given a basket to carry water, his performance was dismal, so dismal that he had to go, voluntarily or not.
Although the batting collapses, the inconsistent bowling, and the poor fielding and catching under him were nothing new in West Indies cricket of recent years, even though his 2-0 loss to South Africa, his 1-1 draw with Pakistan, his 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka, his 3-0 loss to Australia, and his 2-0 loss to New Zealand were nothing new for the West Indies, as a captain Chanderpaul failed to motivate the players.
FIELD PLACINGS
His field placings, mostly defensive, were baffling most of the time, most times he simply looked out of his depth and that is why as a captain he may well be remembered as the worse in the history of West Indies cricket.
As a person, however, Chan-derpaul remains one of the true ambassadors of West Indies cricket. He is a man who, in spite of the problems between the Board and the Players Association, was always there for West Indies cricket, a man who gave his all every minute of every day for the West Indies, and a man who, even though he knew his limitations, even though he did not relish the job and probably did not really want it, accepted the captaincy in the interest of West Indies cricket.
And even though he was always strongly criticised, he bravely soldiered on, again in the interest of West Indies cricket.
Although some may believe that Chanderpaul pre-empted the Board and its selectors, and even though, based on his results and the pressure from every quarters that may be true, according to the man who has been a shadow of himself as a batsman since taking over the captaincy, he resigned simply to focus on his batting.
"This resignation would give me an opportunity to focus on my batting and other areas of my cricket where I would be able to make a more significant contribution to the team," said Chanderpaul in his letter of resignation to the Board.
THE RIGHT DECISION
Although it is difficult to understand what he means by "a more significant contribution", Chanderpaul, in the interest of West Indies cricket, has once again made the right decision, for the simple reason that his batting is more important, much more so, to West Indies cricket than his captaincy.
The captaincy was a burden for Chanderpaul. Maybe it was that burden, that frustration, that led him to change his stance so drastically, and that maybe was one reason why he was not scoring runs.
Now that he has shed that burden, however, maybe he will stand up properly and bat, and maybe the runs will start to flow from his bat once again.
Who should be Chanderpaul's successor?
It should be vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.
As a captain, Sarwan may not be any better than Chanderpaul, he may need help from those around him, and as one of the players who were missing in action on a couple of occasions but are now back in the team, chances are he will be well supported.
One thing is almost certain, however. Sarwan's personality is such that if he gets it, the captaincy will hardly affect his batting.
