Shivnarine Chanderpaul: West Indies batsman retires from international cricket

News of Shivnarine Chanderpaul's retirement from international cricket may have passed many by.

While England were heading for defeat in the final Test of their series win over South Africa on Saturday, the seemingly evergreen batsman bowed out of the game at the age of 41.

Sadly his last innings was a sorry 13-ball duck against England in the Barbados Test of May 2015 that doesn't do justice to some of the sensational knocks he has produced over the years.

Here's a look at some of the best, and most contrasting, knocks in his career...

AWESOME IN ATTACK

100 off 72 balls (v Australia, First Test, Guyana, April 2003)

At the time, Chanderpaul's 69-ball hundred against Australia in 2003 was the third-fastest hundred in Test history, only bettered by Viv Richards (56 balls, WI v Eng, 1986) and Jack Gregory (67 balls, Aus v SA, 1921).

Misbah-ul-Haq's 56-ball effort against Australia in 2014 and Adam Gilchrist's 57-ball ton in the 2006/07 Ashes have since bumped Chanderpaul down to fifth, but this hundred - in front of his home crowd in Georgetown, Guyana - was all the more impressive due to him arriving at the crease with the West Indies 47-4, and soon to be 53-5 with the loss of Brian Lara. Chanderpaul cracked 15 fours and two sixes as he raced to his hundred, only to fall three balls later, in what would ultimately be a heavy nine-wicket defeat for the hosts.

They had lost the series - trailing 3-0 - by the time of the fourth Test, but Chanderpaul would cap a positive series personally with another electric hundred to help the West Indies chase a Test-record 418 to win the dead rubber in Antigua.

203no off 370 balls (v South Africa, First Test, Guyana, April 2005)

Chanderpaul has two double-hundreds to his name - both unbeaten scores of 203 - against South Africa in 2005, and Zimbabwe in 2012. We're focusing on the former, due to the greater quality of the opposition, because it was his first, and because it once again came in front of his home fans in Guyana.

Chanderpaul also hit a Test-highest 23 fours in his 370-ball knock, as the West Indies amassed 543-5 declared in their first innings, with opener Wavell Hinds (213) also notching a double-ton. Despite dismissing South Africa for 188 in their first innings, the hosts could not force a win as the Proteas batted out the final day and a half to draw the Test - Jacques Kallis occupying the crease for 346 balls for his 109 - before ultimately going on to win the series 2-0.

149no off 136 balls (v India, First ODI, Nagpur, January 2007)

Chanderpaul's best was not saved purely for the Test arena, with 11 hundreds and 59 fifties to his name in one-day internationals, and a highest score of 150 against South Africa in 1999 to his name. We're going to focus on the time he scored one fewer though - an unbeaten 149 off 136 balls against India in Nagpur in 2007.

Sadly, it came in another losing effort for the Caribbean outfit - there is a theme developing here - but they would not have even got close to India's 339-run target were it not for Chanderpaul, who demonstrated the sort of wristy strokeplay more commonplace in players on the sub-continent. He struck 16 fours and three sixes, batting the full 50 overs, to take the team to within 14 runs of their target but did not receive sufficient support at the other end, with Chris Gayle the only other batsman to pass 50.

SLOW AND STEADY

136no off 510 balls (v India, Fourth Test, Antigua, May 2002)

Chanderpaul's steely resolve was no more evident than in this 510-ball and 675-minute epic, and unlike his attacking efforts in losing causes above, his contribution in Antigua helped secure a vital draw in the series that was tied 1-1 at the time, one the West Indies would ultimately clinch with a win in the fifth Test in Jamaica - Chanderpaul continuing his fine form with two further fifties.

India scored 513-9 in their first innings, but despite the scoreboard pressure, and the loss of Lara for just four as Chanderpaul came to the crease, he helped the West Indies blunt an Indian attack - all 11 of them, as every one of the team bowled at least one over - for a staggering 248 overs. Seamers Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan were flogged for a combined 142 overs, which surely played its part in India's fifth Test defeat a mere week later, while Chanderpaul, still unbeaten when the Test did draw to a close, would still likely be batting now on the St John's surface if allowed.

103no off 248 balls (v Australia, First Test, Barbados, April 2012)

More red ink next to Chanderpaul's name - he was not out 49 times in his 280 Test innings - as he scored an unbeaten 103 off 248 balls for a post-Lara West Indies languishing near the bottom of the Test rankings. It was a knock all the more impressive in that it came against an intimidating looking Australia attack of Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon.

Despite a decent first innings score of 449-9 declared, the West Indies would ultimately lose by three wickets in a closely-fought series opener. The series itself, dominated by the ball, was not quite the walkover many expected, with the Aussies adding only a 75-run win in the third Test to win the series 2-0. Chanderpaul's defiance with the bat a key factor - scores of 12, 94, 68 and 69, following his hundred, for a series aggregate of 346. The second-highest aggregate for West Indies in the series was almost half at 186, which amply sums up Chanderpaul's contributions throughout his career.

80 off 126 balls (West Indies v Australia, World Cup semi-final, Mohali, March 1996)

The only entry in this list which wasn't a hundred, but Chanderpaul's battling 80 was his highest ODI score at the time, and came on cricket's biggest stage, a World Cup semi-final against Australia, at only 21 years of age. His success was bittersweet, as the West Indies suffered a sensational collapse to slip to a five-run defeat against the Aussies.

Eyeing up a first World Cup triumph since 1979, and chasing a mere 208 to win, Chanderpaul set a terrific platform as opener, calmly collecting his 80 runs off 126 balls, stroking seven boundaries. But with the West Indies well placed at 165-2, Chanderpaul fell to Glenn McGrath, one of seven wickets for 37 runs, as Australia advanced to the final.

Chanderpaul and the West Indies haven't come as close to World Cup success since, but with 11 hundreds and 59 fifties in a glittering 268-game ODI career, the skill he showed that night was just the tip of the iceberg, and he would at least have a big part to play as the West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy on English soil in 2004.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is taking part in the T20 Masters Champions League tournament that you can watch streamed live on Sky Sports' digital platforms, starting on January 28.