Since he made his Test debut against England in his native Guyana 11 years ago, Shivnarine Chanderpaul has cut a quiet figure in the background for the West Indies team. It is something of a surprise, then, that the middle-order batsman has been chosen to lead the side in the first Test against South Africa later this month. The sponsorship row involving captain Brian Lara and six other players prompted the change in skipper. And it probably needed such a turn of events for Chanderpaul to be given an opportunity. For as difficult a tenure Lara has had, no obvious successor has stood out. Previous vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has also been excluded from the squad, is regarded as a good communicator and gets on well with the other players. But he is seen by some as brash and lacking in the kind of discipline Chanderpaul exudes. Sarwan did himself no favours when he was seen partying in the stands not long after the West Indies batting had been demolished by England's Steve Harmison in Jamaica last year. CHANDERPAUL'S TEST STATISTICS Tests: 80 Runs: 5,192 Average: 44.37 100s: 11 50s: 32 Best: 140 Chanderpaul is quite different. While Sarwan has a penchant for flamboyant strokeplay, his Guyana team-mate tends to rely more on steady accumulation, using an unorthodox technique that can irritate opponents. Not one for interviews, the 30-year-old left-hander is an intensely private and religious person. He is unlikely to be caught up in scandal either, although in an act of aggression entirely out of character in 1999 he mistook a policeman for a thief and shot him. Fortunately, it was not fatal. When Chanderpaul was chosen ahead of Sarwan to succeed Carl Hooper as Guyana skipper in September 2003 the appointment was accompanied by controversy - but none of his own making. The backdrop was a long-running dispute involving the local cricket authorities. Nonetheless, his first season in charge was encouraging. Guyana reached the semi-final stage of the four-day Carib Beer Series and won the 50-over Red Stripe Bowl. This year, the team finished fourth in the four-day competition, and again reached the one-day final. Captaincy has not adversely affected Chanderpaul's game in domestic cricket - he is top of the first-class averages. And the lack of big stars in the 14-man squad to face South Africa will also make the transition to international captaincy easier. Chanderpaul lost most of his possessions in January when his house was wrecked by the floods which hit the east coast of Guyana. Two months on, he has been handed what some regard as a poisoned chalice. His courage as a batsman has not been questioned - the succession of broken fingers and bruises he has picked up bear testimony to that. If - and "if" is a big word where West Indies cricket is concerned - the sponsorship dispute keeps Lara and Sarwan out, few will back against Chanderpaul rising to his latest challenge. But, despite his nickname, "Tiger", his team-mates are unlikely to be subject to snarled orders from their new skipper. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com