Admittedly Viv and Chanderpaul are two batsmen from different eras but 20 years down the line a young cricket enthusiast might be very perplexed after comparing the respective test stats of the two as to why only one of them is regarded so highly by the international cricket fraternity
Viv retired from cricket in 1991 and Chandu 34 (should surpass atleast Viv’s test runs aggregate) made his international debut in 1994. If one closely examines their stats there is very little to choose between the two, even Chandu’s 100s column (21) is very respectable
Leading Test Batsmen
http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/223646.html
Viv Richards: Tests 121; Runs 8540; Ave: 50.23; HS 291; 100s (24)
Chanderpaul: Tests119; Runs 8502; Ave: 50.01; HS 203*; 100s (21)
But those of us fortunate enough to have seen Viv Richards bat in his prime know that is where the similarity ends between the two. Comparing Viv with Chanderpaul is like comparing chalk with cheese. Viv is very rightly regarded as an all-time batting genius, one of the true greats of the game. Chanderpaul on the otherhand can be at best regarded as good/efficient rather than great. Chandu never received much recognition partly because of his crabby batting stance and partly because he keeps a very low profile.
Chandu’s ODI stats are equally impressive averaging 41.68 (v Viv’s 47.00)
Leading ODI batsmen
http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/83548.html
For Your Eyes Only - the original master blaster- THE man!
Can we also deduce from all this that for the immense talent he possessed Viv perhaps underperformed during the latter part of his career and a batsman of his calibre and genius should have retired with a test average of around 60.
The ease with which Viv smashed the greatest bowlers of that time was unreal.
Any thoughts??