Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Mohammad Yousuf, two of the finest batsmen of the modern era never received the appreciation they deserved.
Chanderpaul's patience and grit was always overshadowed by the magic of Brian Lara, while Inzamam-ul-Haq's presence in the team meant Yousuf's elegant batting went unnoticed.
However, both Chanderpaul and Yousuf scored big runs throughout their career and were an essential cog of their respective times during their era.
Both batsmen were elegant and had prolific careers. But who among them fared better in statistics?
Here we take a look at the numbers of these two stalwarts and find out the better batsmen among them.
#5 Overall statistics.
Temperament and patience were common virtues of Chanderpaul and Yusuf. Both batsmen loved batting for long durations and ended up piling up huge scores. Their overall stats are a testimony to their never die attitude.
Although Yusuf had a shorter Test career than Chanderpaul, he managed to stay consistent with his performances.
His tally of 24 Test hundreds in 156 innings looks impressive than Chanderpaul’s tally of 30 hundreds in 280 innings. But this table doesn’t indicate the fact that Chanderpaul batted in lower middle order for most of his career while Yusuf batted at number four and five.
The Caribbean batsman has in fact scored 26 of his hundreds while batting at number six and seven which is a monumental achievement considering the lack of support he mostly received from his team mates.
The statistics reflect the greatness of both batsmen and reveal why they are regarded highly in cricket.
#4 Performances in Home and Away Tests
Although Chanderpaul’s average of 45.05 in away tests is staggering, it is quite low when compared with his home average of 58.36. His batting style was highly effective on the slow and dry West Indian surfaces and hence he found it easier to pile up big scores on these surfaces.
However he faced problems in making big scores on the fast and bouncy pitches of Australia. He scored five fifties in Australia but failed to make a hundred.
The left-hander played only six Tests in Pakistan and was constantly troubled by the Pak bowlers. His average of 32.54 in Pakistan has affected his overall away average in Tests.
In the shorter format of the game, barring neutral venues, he maintained consistency.
Mohammad Yusuf too enjoyed batting on home pitches and scored at an astonishing average of 65.25 runs per innings in Tests.
However, his below par performances in Australia (avg-31.88) , India (33.73) and South Africa (26.10) dented his overall average. His ODI figures also reveal the same tale.
Chanderpaul’s better average in overseas ODIs makes him a winner in this segment.
#3. Comparisons with other batsmen in the team
Chanderpaul played international cricket for more than two decades. He debuted in 1994 against England at the age of 20 and made his last appearance in Test cricket in 2015 against the same opponent.
During his era, the West Indian batsman was the sixth highest run scorer in Test cricket. Interestingly, the five batsmen who scored more runs than Chanderpaul batted in the top four.
Also, the table makes it clear that he was West Indies’ highest run scorer of his era. The closest Caribbean batsman to Chanderpaul is Lara, who ranks at number seven with 11012 runs.
Mohammad Yusuf had a decade long Test career that started in 1998 against South Africa and ended in 2010 against England at the Lord’s.
Identifying Yusuf’s position between his contemporary batsmen is difficult as five players played more than 100 Tests during this era and unsurprisingly scored more runs than Yusuf.
So, to balance the table we look at the batsmen who played less than 100 Tests in that era.
This table indicates that Yusuf wasn’t at the top but was a significant force during his era. Also, he was the highest run scorer for Pakistan during this period and also played the most number of games as well.
After comparing both the tables, it is evident that Chanderpaul had a more significant impact on Test cricket during his era than Yusuf.
#2 Contributions in victories
Unfortunately for them, during the latter part of Yusuf and Chanderpaul’s career, the performances of their respective teams deteriorated considerably. West Indies failed to produce Lara’s successor and their bowling woes became worse. Pakistan too failed to create a stable team combination for the longer format of the game.
These factors ensured that both these players were part of very few Test victories. However, their averages prove that they played a vital hand in producing these victories.
The numbers for ODI’s are similar for both batsmen and it Chanderpaul’s staggering average of 65.66 in Tests that West Indies won, makes him a winner in this segment.
#1 Performances in third and fourth innings-
The true caliber of a batsman is tested during their team's toughest times. The third and fourth innings of a Test are such times - when batsmen need to bring out their best to score runs.
Both batsmen average more than 40 in the 3rd and the 4th innings of Test matches which is an astonishing achievement. The performances in this segment present no clear winner as both batsmen have almost identical stats.
The Final Verdict
The statistics both Chanderpaul and Yousuf have amassed over their careers are impressive by all standards. A comparison of those statistics only increases their greatness.
However, Chanderpaul's better batting average in overseas Tests and in matches that West Indies won, makes him a better contributor than Yousuf.
Chanderpaul was also ne of the leading run scorers in international cricket during his heyday.
Hence, in the statistical comparison between the two batsmen, Chanderpaul emerges the winner.
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