Kingston: West Indies cricket officially shut the door on Shivnarine Chanderpaul when the name of the team's second highest run-getter was left out of the Test squad set to face Australia on June 3.
The selection committee, led by former skipper Clive Lloyd, picked a 14-man squad for the first Test in Roseau Dominica and Chanderpaul's name expectedly did not feature in the team.
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The 40-year-old Guyanan, a veteran of 164 Tests, has been a regular member of the Caribbean Test squad since his debut in 1994. Chanderpaul has amassed 11,867 Test runs -- an agonising 86 behind West Indies' record run-getter Brian Lara. But the left-handed batsman has managed just 92 runs in three matches against England at an average of 15.33.
While Lara had openly backed Chanderpaul and said that his former teammate deserved a farewell series, many former players, including pace ace Michael Holding, believe that the veteran's time is up.
Chanderpaul though had wanted to play in the series as a farewell on his terms. "My request to finish up with the Australian series is not asking too much," Chanderpaul was quoted as saying in the local newspaper Kaiteur News.
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"It gives me a chance to acknowledge my supporters at home. I should not be pushed into retirement," he added.
West Indies and Australia will play two Tests – in Dominica from Wednesday an at Sabina Park, Jamaica, from June 11-15.
