Shivnarine Chanderpaul says he was forced to retire by WICB

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has confessed that he did not quit the game on his own terms, but was forced to retire by the WICB.

In one of the shocking confessions in West Indies cricket, recently retired West Indies veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul has confessed that he did not quit the game on his own terms, but was forced to retire by the parent board of the nation, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). However, he also insisted that he has not retired from domestic cricket and would continue to offer his valuable services to Guyana and also aim to resume play for the club in just a couple of weeks. The confession also provides an insight of the ongoing tussle between WICB and the West Indies players, as Chanderpaul retired with the aim to obtain the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the WICB in order to play the ongoing Masters Champions League (MCL) in UAE. Shivnarine Chanderpaul to be honoured in best way possible: WICB President

“I was given a No Objection Certificate by WICB with a clause in it that I retire on the 23rd. If I didn’t announce my retirement they would have taken it back. I have spoken to Guyana already. I know the chairman wants me to go back and play,” Chanderpaul said in an interview to ESPNCricinfo.

“They have a game against Trinidad starting on February 12. Then Barbados, then Windward Islands, Leeward Islands and Jamaica. Those are games that I’ve talked to them already about going back to play. I’ve not retired from first-class matches. I’ve retired from international games. I wasn’t being picked to play for West Indies anymore and there was nothing else for me to do. So I decided I would come out here to the UAE and play some cricket,” he added. ICC praises Shivnarine Chanderpaul as role model for millions

Although Chanderpaul continues to earn a good amount of money from Guyana, he is heavily paid for around $30,000 in a couple of weeks involvement in the MCL. “I don’t have a contract with anybody. No local boards; no West Indies board. I’ve been playing for Guyana because the coach and chairman saw the value of having me around as a player. They pay me a match fee and I play and try and help the young fellas as much as I can. Anything is possible in life. You can go into retirement; you can come out of retirement. It is my choice. I’m definitely still hungry to play. It’s something I’ve done most of my life. There is still passion and hunger to play,” he said.

He criticised the behaviour of some former West Indies player (unspecified), mentioning he was leading a stress-free and lucrative life by playing the MCL. However, he seemed irritated by the fact that he was not given a proper send off, from WICB or Guyana Cricket Board. Shivnarine Chanderpaul a consummate professional: West Indies Players Association

“You can’t [chose the way you go]; not with those guys,” he said. “It’s the way we’re being treated. It’s still going on and it’s not changing. We’re being treated like that and worse sometimes. That’s how it goes. Some of the past players had better times in their career. They don’t want to change. They want to stay the same way; have the same attitude. But you can’t bring the same thing to the table every time because you’re not going to go anywhere. We’re not going forward. We’re just going down. They’re creating some problems,” Chanderpaul said.

“As much as you’re saying we have past players, they are the ones who are creating the problem because they have their ways — their old ways — and there’s brute force and ignorance and they’re still carrying it around and still expecting things to go the same way. You feel much better just coming out here to play [in the MCL]; without all the stress, without all the other stuff that’s going on,” he concluded.

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