Opportunity for WI to earn some rating points

– Chanderpaul hopes team will make clean sweep of two-Test series against Zimbabwe

Batting stalwart Shivnarine Chanderpaul says the West Indies should use the upcoming two-Test series against Zimbabwe to earn some rating points on the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings table.
The Caribbean side will face the tourists in the first Test from March 12- 16 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, with the final game set for March 20- 24 at Windsor Park in Dominica, and according to Chanderpaul, the Windies should look for nothing less than a clean sweep of the series.
Currently, the West Indies are at number seven in the Test rankings with 91 rating points, one point below the Sri Lankans in sixth position. A 2-0 series victory could see the Windies getting past Sri Lanka and closing the gap on Pakistan, that is in fifth spot on 104 rating points.
The Zimbabweans are currently unranked, as they have played insufficient matches.
“We had a good series against Bangladesh late last year, winning both Test matches, and we want to build on that momentum against Zimbabwe.
Obviously, we’re looking to win both Test matches and hopefully make a move up the rankings,” Chanderpaul told this publication during an exclusive interview earlier this week.
Chanderpaul, the West Indies second highest Test runscorer and the ninth highest in Test history with 10,696 runs from 146 matches, is expected to play a crucial role in the series, having become the mainstay of the middle- order for more than a decade.
While the dogged lefthander is eyeing team success, he will also be looking to rectify his record against Zimbabwe, one of only two Test playing nations that he has not scored a century against–the other being Sri Lanka.
In six Tests against Zimbabwe, Chanderpaul averages 28.77 with a highest score of 74.
“I’m looking forward to the series,” the former West Indies captain said. “I played in the Bangladesh Premier League recently and got some runs there… I’m home at the moment and hopefully I can get a knock in the regional competition and spend some time in the middle ahead of the Test series.”
Given Chanderpaul’s recent form – he racked up 354 runs in the two- Test series against Bangladesh and made 987 runs in nine Tests in 2012 – he could very well move up the all- time list of highest Test runscorer.
He is just 110 runs away from surpassing Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and 231 away from getting past the former Australian captain, Steve Waugh.
West Indies will start the Test series with the advantage having won the three previous two- Test bilateral series. They won 2- 0 in 1999 and had 1- 0 results in 2001 and 2003. (Guyana Times)