West Indies legend Shiv Chanderpaul received his commemorative cap at a ceremony as the newest member of the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.
The 48-year-old was on Monday named by the ICC as inductee 107 and was joined by iconic Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir and England’s multi-time World Cup-winning captain Charlotte Edwards. On Wednesday they were “capped” ahead of the first semifinal of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup between Pakistan and New Zealand.
Ricky Skerritt, CWI President and ICC Director, was among several delegates and special guests at the ceremony.
“This is an amazing honour to follow the footsteps of many legends and so many other great cricketers of the past,” said Chanderpaul. “I’m grateful for the recognition and would like to enjoy the moment with family, friends and most importantly the West Indies cricket fans and fans around the world who passionately supported me throughout my career.”
Geoff Allardice, ICC Chief Executive Officer, said Chanderpaul, along with Edwards and Qadir, were great “ambassadors” of the game.
“The ICC Hall of Fame continues to celebrate the iconic individuals that have shaped the history of cricket,” he said in a statement. “Only the very best are honoured in this way and it is wonderful to commemorate the lasting contributions of Shivnarine, Charlotte and Abdul.” Allardice added: “These three ambassadors of our great game enjoyed tremendous success on the international stage and are richly deserving of their status as ICC Hall of Famers.”
During his illustrious career which spanned 21 years, Chanderpaul played 164 Test matches – the most by a West Indian. He scored 11,867 runs with 30 hundreds at an average of 51.37. In One-Day Internationals, he notched 8,778 runs from 268 appearances with 11 centuries at an average of 41.60.
Chanderpaul is second on the all-time West Indies run-scoring list in Tests and is one of just two players – along with Brian Lara – with over 10 000 runs. The Guyanese is third on the ODI run-scoring charts behind Chris Gayle and Lara.