Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the son of West Indies batting great Shivnaraine, on slammed a century in his first outing for the Carribean team.
The left-handed batsman, who got his maiden call-up for West Indies’ national side, scored the ton during the team’s warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI in the four-day tour match.
Tagenarine took 235 balls and with 11 fours and a six to reach his century.
The beginning
The 26-year-old, who plays for Guyana, made his first-class debut in February 2013. He aggregated 2,669 first-class runs at an average of 34.21 with five hundreds in first-class cricket till date.
International career
He scored prolifically at youth level and was included in the Windies squad for the 2014 U-19 World Cup held in the UAE. During the World Cup, he scored an unbeaten 84 and 93 against Zimbabwe and Canada respectively.
He would be called up to the West Indies A side during the 2022 Bangladesh A tour of the West Indies. He notched up an unbeaten century in the second four-day match and the performance led to him being called up to the Test Squad for the 2022 West Indian tour of Australia.
"We have one newcomer to the team in Tagenarine Chanderpaul. He equipped himself very well in the West Indies Championship four-day matches and also did a very good job at the top of the order against Bangladesh A in Saint Lucia this summer. He has what it takes to do well at the highest level," said Desmond Haynes, lead selector of the senior men's team.
Personal life
Apparently, Tagenarine was not coached by his father, Shivnarine. The fact is, it was only in 2009, when Tagenarine was 13, that the Chanderpauls even started living together as a family at their ancestral home in Guyana’s Unity village. He spent most of his growing years in Unity with mother Annalee.
“He would call to ask about me, and we would meet at times when he was in Guyana on tour. It’s been good having him around since he returned,” Tagenarine was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
"He's been knocking at the door since before Covid… two-and-a-half years passed with no cricket behind, then he started to get some cricket back. He started the first-class season without many runs, then he came to Florida and did some work with me. When he got back, he got a couple of hundreds and now he's got selected to come here. Knowing the attack Australia has - these guys are relentless - if he can come here and do well, it will be a start to his career," father Shivnarine was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
"I try to help him sometimes but he's a little bent in his ways. He'll seek me out for some help but then there's a lot of times, like any kid, when you message him but he doesn't message back. Unless he wants something! I'll message [while] watching the game whenever he's playing, I've seen what he's doing, if he's doing something he's not supposed to be doing then I'll message and say 'this is what I'm seeing' and he'll not message back for two months after," he added.
Bollywood debut
Tagenarine made his Bollywood debut when he played the role of WI cricketer Larry Gomes in the Bollywood film 83, a movie that captures India’s memorable Cricket World Cup victory almost 40 years ago.
