In the end, the day belonged to the Guyanese fisherman's son
Thirteen times in 18 Tests, he had passed the
half century mark. Obdurate, resolute until he passed
that plimsoll line, he then became fidgety, restless,
uncharacteristically casual with his shots, never
once converting any of those carefully constructed
fifties into a hundred.
On Thursday, three years and ten days after
he began playing Test cricket, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the son of
a Guyanese fisherman, finally notched up three figures
against his name.
There is something fascinating about a batsman
making his first Test century. In Chanderpaul's case,
even diehard India fans could not have
grudged him that milestone. So often had he come
close to a hundred. So often had he perished just
as it seemed that this was the day he would do it.
It was ironic that the feat did not come versus the Australians
against whom he scored his previous highest score in Tests -- 82
-- or the English against whom he had shepherded Brian Lara
to that batsman's 375 not out, but against India from where his ancestors
set sail for the South American coast sometime last century.
There is nothing West Indian about Shivnarine's game. In a team endorsed by flamboyance,
he is often an advertisement for inelegance.
If Lara is Errol Flynn; Hooper Clark Gable; Chanderpaul
is Spencer Tracey. There is nothing brilliant about him, but what the hell,
he is so darned reliable. The West Indies batting line-up
has come to rely so much on the slight man who first learnt his craft
on Guyanese beaches.
Chanderpaul's resolute style, his determination to go on -- mindless
of the times the bowlers have beaten him or the ball has just
eluded the fielder's fingers or the procession of batsmen
proceeding to the pavilion at the other end -- is what has made
him one of the most dependable players in contemporary cricket.
And though the Indians were lucky to win the toss, bowled
well to pick up seven wickets,
at the end of the day when umpires Lloyd Barker
and Steve Randall called off play because of bad light,
the first day's honours in the third Test belonged to
Chanderpaul before anyone else.
Tendulkar was right to field on a pitch that was grassy and
offered plenty of bounce throughout the day. The Barbados
homicide squad would have been summoned had Lara
-- West Indies captain for the first time after Courtney Walsh was ruled
out with a hamstring injury -- called correctly
and set Messr Ambrose, Bishop, Dillon and Rose
on the Indians.
Prasad looked a bit jaded in the morning.
Has the responsibility of being spearhead
of the Indian attack less than a year after he started playing Test
cricket got into him? Both he and Kuruvilla, despite the
assistance they received from the pitch, were guilty of not
making the West Indies batsmen play. Too many
balls were wide off the off stump and comfortably left alone.
The Indians went into lunch a wicket or two short of what they had
probably budgeted for. Campbell had gone early, cutting Prasad
to slip where Azza took a low, good catch. Williams, who has scored
two centuries in the Red Stripe contest at the Kensington Oval in the last
year, was nowhere like his Port of Spain self. The centurion of the second Test
hit 5 fours in his 24, then departed, gliding a ball from Dodda Ganesh to
Laxman at second slip.
No luck after that as the erratic Indian attack permitted Chanderpaul and
Lara to consolidate the West Indies innings with a 48-run stand.
Prasad bowled with much more
fire after the luncheon interval. His ball to dismiss Lara
was a certified beauty, making the great
man play, then swerving into Tendulkar's hands at first slip.
Lara out for 19. Hooper, the next man in, was majestic and regal.
Somehow, even Lara does not look as good as Hooper when the
Guyanese batsman is in full cry.
Hooper went at 19, cutting Ganesh -- the sole Indian change, coming in
for Sunil Joshi -- to Mongia. Holder, the
local boy, didn't last long either, cutting Prasad to Azza who
took another good catch. Both shots were poor, undeserving of the
moment. The West Indies were in serious trouble at 131/5.
Courtney Browne, who came in for Junior Murray, hung on tenaciously,
fobbing off the Indian bowlers for more than an hour, setting up a 56-run stand
with Chanderpaul. In desperation, Tendulkar, who had given Kumble just one
over in the morning, relying on his medium pacers, finally entrusted
the ball to his deputy who has taken 16 wickets in the series so
far. Until the Bridgetown Test, Prasad, in contrast, had just taken
three wickets! Browne, hemmed in by an attacking field, perished, lofting Kumble
to Tendulkar in the deep.
Prasad bowled Bishop for 4 soon enough, bringing big man Ambrose as the little
guy's unlikely sherpa to climb that virgin peak. Curtly played some attacking
cricket himself, one stylish cut to the fence was worthy of a batsman higher up in the order
not someone coming in at number nine.
From his lofty perch, the Antiguan hot a ringside view of the scenes of sheer joy as
crowds swarmed all over
Chanderpaul. For six minutes or so, the new centurion was lost in the deluge, as policemen,
local fans and some beefy tourists from Blighty hailed his feat. It was not a scene unknown to
Chanderpaul. Three years ago, he had seen it happen when identical crowds submerged Lara
after he overtook Sir Gary.
That morning, he was at the other end, the spectator to the celebration. This time, he was the celebration.
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