‘Shivnarine would be solid pick for coach’- Former batting coach Toby Radford on West Indies Head Coach Role

Former West Indies batting coach, Toby Radford, is confident Shivnarine Chanderpaul would make a ‘solid’ pick for the role of Windies head coach.

Former West Indies Legendry batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul will step down as the head coach of the USA senior women’s and U19 teams after the upcoming inaugural ICC U-19 Women’s World Cup in South Africa, USA cricket announced in a statement last month.

But The 48-year-old former West Indian captain is now gunning for T20 World Cup glory with the USA Cricket Women’s U19 squad.

Cricket West Indies have named Andre Coley as the interim coach of the senior men’s team for the team’s tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa next month.

Coley takes over from Phil Simmons, who announced his decision to step down after the Australia series post West Indies’ ‘unfathomable’ early exit at the T20 World Cup.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is a West Indies legendary cricketer who made a name for himself with his top-quality performance in the history of the game.

Guyana-born Chanderpaul was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame just last month.

In all, Chanderpaul played 164 Tests for the West Indies cricket team, aggregating 11,867 runs at a strike rate of 43.31. He scored 8,778 runs in 251 ODI innings, while in the shortest format of the game, the left-handed batsman scored 343 runs in 22 innings. His highest score in international cricket was 203*.

In opposition, some have pointed to Chanderpaul’s relative lack of experience, while others believe he would be more suited to a role in the administration.

But Chanderpaul has already experienced some success as a coach, having led the Jamaica Tallawahs to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title last year.

For Radford, who is well acquainted with the former batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul, there is no doubting the quality he would be able to bring to the role.

“I’m a big fan, I’ve often talked about Shiv and what he brought to the game as a player. He was a very hard worker and meticulous in preparation, a lot of the things I think he would instill as a coach for the younger players,” Radford told the Mason and Guest show.

“He has been there and done it. He was number one in the world for a period of time, a top Test player in the world. He has played all around the world. I think he would bring a huge amount to it,” he added.

“He is new to coaching and still finding his feet but he is having relative success and I think he would bring a lot to it,” he added.

Radford, however, believes the former batsman would have to be supported by a very capable team.

West Indies are scheduled to play two Tests in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe starting February 4. They’ll then travel to South Africa, a tour that’ll include two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is.