The curious case of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the patches below his eyes

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in many ways, is one of the most underrated players to feature in international cricket till date. He served West Indies cricket for over two decades and registered a lot of runs for his side. He was not quite charismatic on the field, with a unique stance many describe as "crab-like" but, he played the role of a true anchor that kept West Indies cricket cohesive after Brian Lara's retirement.

With over 11,000 runs in test cricket and about 9000 runs in ODIs, his legacy reflects dedication, commitment, and passion he carried for over 2 decades. He has 41 centuries and 125 fifties in international cricket which speak volume for his abilities as a batsman.

As a kid, one always wondered or still wonders about the accessories players carried in the field. Things like sunglasses and face stickers were and are quite common but Chanderpaul had as unique a feature in the cricketing accessories department as was his batting stance.

It doesn't matter if you were a kid in the 90s, a teenager in early 2000s or vice-versa, I can safely assume that if you have seen Chanderpaul play, there had been at least one moment in which you wondered about the two dark stickers below his eyes.

In case, you are unaware of the reason why he used dark stickers below his eyes, those stickers were anti-glare patches used to reduce light entering the peripheral area of the eyes so that he could bat and field without being affected by the glare of the Sun. If you're familiar with American football, you must have seen players using the anti-glare patches to get the sun glare out of players' eyes.

The anti-glare patches also help in protecting eyes from the heat. I must mention that there have been lots of claims about the functioning of such patches. Some people claim that they don't help much but players who have used these patches say that the patches really help improve their efficiency in the field as they are able to adjust well under the Sun.

Chanderpaul used the ‘Mueller' brand anti-glare patches for many years. Speculations in the cricketing world suggested that he didn't prefer anti-glare sunglasses. However, he was not allowed to use branded anti-glare patches during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as per the ICC guidelines for endorsements and commercials.