Shivnarine Chanderpaul made what was probably the toughest decision since his rise to West Indies captaincy a year ago. Despite his horrible record of 10 losses against just one win in 14 Tests, it must still have been difficult for the left handed Guyanese batsman to step down from one of the most prestigious and high profile positions in the region. His one day record is equally unflattering with just one win in 15 matches.
As hard as it may have been for Chanderpaul to walk away I am convinced it was the right thing for him to do in his own interest and that of West Indies cricket. Chanderpaul can now devote himself completely to doing what he does best and that is scoring runs heavily for the West Indies.
Anyone who doubts his batting credentials can compare his 6230 runs (14 centuries) at 44.82 with former West Indies stalwarts like Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and Clive Lloyd. As West Indies has continued to struggle so has Chanderpaul who has recorded only one score in excess of 50 in his last 14 innings.
Chanderpaul must be commended for his maturity in recognising his failure to impact positively in a leadership role. Those who preferred to see him as captain argue that the misfortunes of the team are not directly related to the captaincy. Even if such an illogical argument had any merit the fact remains that Chanderpaul has been far from his best as a player for most of the period of his captaincy. This West Indies side cannot afford to have such low productivity from a player who Brian Lara described a year and a half ago as the best batsman in the side.
The timing of Chanderpaul’s resignation is ideal as it leaves the new captain a reasonable period to acclimatise before the major challenge of the 2007 World Cup and allows him to start against light weight opponents like Zimbabwe. The short list of candidates seems to include former captain Lara, the current vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, Trinidad and Tobago captain Daren Ganga, opener Chris Gayle and recent ‘A’ team skipper Sylvester Joseph.
The board and selectors could also adopt a policy of having separate Test and one-day captains thus allowing the one-day leader to focus entirely on building a team for the World Cup. It is a scenario which could bring Lara seriously into the picture as Test captain only as he seems to prefer to avoid one-day cricket in the hope of prolonging his international career.
With the World Cup a year away to be preceded by the Champions Trophy in India, it can only be a matter of time before Lara returns to the shorter version of the game but if he accepts the captaincy of both teams it will ensure a heavy workload for the 36 year old veteran at a time when he prefers a more leisurely pace.
Lara lost the captaincy just when it seemed he was beginning to make some headway with the success in the 2004 Champions Trophy in England. A compelling argument can be made for his return to the top at the very least as captain for one-dayers or the Test if not both.
As tempting as it may be to split the leadership I believe West Indies cricket needs stability and one person should be entrusted with the task of moulding a team for the future. It is unlikely anyone can do so effectively if there is too much interference from the coaching staff. I believe roles needs to be clearly defined and the captain must be strong enough to take charge.
The WICB has seldom paid attention to continuity in appointing captains but the most conservative appointment this time around would be that of the vice captain Sarwan. It must be worrying that he has continued to display his impetuosity by gifting his wicket at crucial stage with the hook shot. In fairness to him the other contenders have not shown a significantly higher level of discipline. Sarwan seems the natural number one contender to replace Chanderpaul. The selectors and the board must determine if there is anyone more qualified at this time.
