Bridgetown (Barbados), Jul 14 (IANS): Veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has no plans of hanging up his boots yet and says he has still a lot to offer.
Chanderpaul became the most capped West Indies player, reaching the milestone of 133 Tests in the third Test against India in which he scored a match saving century Sunday.
"I'm extremely pleased to reach this milestone. I believe it is a really big occasion. High point? I'm still looking for it. There is still more to come. Whatever knowledge and experience I have gained I would like to pass it on and help the other members of the team with their game," Chanderpaul said.
The champion left-hander said he would like to pass on the knowledge he has gained to youngsters in the team.
"I used to listen to Courtney (Walsh) and Curtly (Ambrose). I would sit in the middle of them and they would pass information and I would just be happy to hear their views on cricket. I'm a batsman and I got to understand the way the bowlers would think and that is how I learned a lot - just by listening and learning. I want to help the others in this team get better as individuals and for all of us to get better as a team."
Chanderpaul scored an unbeaten 116 at Roseau, Dominicia -- an innings he rates among his "best because of the situation."
It came from a whopping 343 balls and the effort was deemed worthy of the Man-of-the-Match award. It added more weight to his statistics which now read: 9,367 runs at an average of 49.04 per innings with 23 centuries and 55 half-centuries.
"I would say this was one my best because of the situation of the team when I went in to bat and the way the game was going. You have to be very patient and watchful while batting on a fifth day pitch. The ball was bouncing and turning."
"You couldn't play as freely as you would have liked to so I had to use all my skills and it took a lot of mental effort as well. Also, Dhoni blocked up all the areas where you had scoring opportunities and it was a lot of hard work. It was really tough out there," the 36-year-old said.
With the century, Chanderpaul broke his run of patchy form.
Chanderpaul was high in praise for debutant Kirk Edwards who marked the occasion with a century of his own.
"Kirk on the debut? Oh man, he batted brilliantly! He took the challenge to Harbhajan and that helped us a lot. He was not afraid to take the attack to the bowlers.
"He was positive and had the right mindset. He was not afraid. He played it his way and did what he knows and what he does best.
"It was a great effort for someone to come in under so much pressure and play the way he did. I had a discussion with Kirk and we were talking about the 20s and the 30s (which Chanderpaul was scoring previously in the series). He told me to put that behind and we worked towards the team goals which was building big partnerships and pulling the team out of the trouble we were in."