Before the second Ashes Test began on December 4, Australia’s Steve Smith was spotted wearing eye stickers, anti-glare patches that help see the ball better, during training. It was not a rare sight, but it was something cricket fans had not witnessed in a long time. Only the fourth Australian batter to have over 10,000 Test runs, Smith revealed he gained insights into the patches from the man who wore them throughout his prolific cricketing career, the West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Chanderpaul is a name without which the stories of Test cricket will always be incomplete. He retired from international cricket in January 2016 after over two decades of representing the Caribbean side. But he is still second on the list, after Brian Lara, with most runs for the West Indies in Test cricket. Chanderpaul (11,867 runs in 164 Tests) and Lara (11,912 runs in 130 Tests) are the only two West Indian batsmen to have 10,000+ Test runs.

“Unbeaten on 49 occasions throughout his Test career, few valued their wicket more than Shivnarine Chanderpaul,” the ICC states in a brief introduction to Chanderpaul in his ICC Hall of Fame profile. Inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2022, Chanderpaul, nicknamed ‘Tiger’ by the West Indies Cricket, graced the Nepal Premier League in the second season by joining the defending champions, Janakpur Bolts, as their head coach. He did not have a good season in the title defence, but Nepali cricket benefited highly from his arrival. During his short time in Nepal, Chanderpaul, who has signed a multi-year deal with the Bolts, says he sees a lot of promise in Nepali cricket and that it is going in the right direction.

Meanwhile, when Chanderpaul, one of the best players to ever grace the gentleman’s game, sat down with The Post’s Nayak Paudel on Friday after Janakpur Bolts announced the plan for JB Cricket Academy, he said that more needs to be done for Nepal to be on equal footing with the world’s cricketing heavyweights. Excerpts.

How has your experience been in Nepal?

It was amazing. The hospitality was really good. Top notch. Can’t complain. Team owners to every other guy in the franchise fulfilled their part very well to make things run smoothly. It was my first time in Nepal, so I did not know what to expect. But when I came and the way things went, I am pretty much impressed.

The season did not go your way. But how was cricket in the NPL?

The standards were good. I don’t know about last year, but I know this year, the quality of the players, especially the overseas players, has set the standards high. And regarding the local players, only some of them could keep up with it [the standards] a bit. So, Nepal needs to develop the young players.

How can Nepal develop young players?

As we just witnessed that our franchise, Janakpur Bolts, launched the initiation of JB Cricket Academy. If you want to develop your young players, from the grassroots, the little ones from schools, establishing good academies is the right direction. The academies are where you need to start and develop the kids with coaches working alongside them. It will also increase the number of children playing cricket, making the pool big to pick from.

How do you see Nepal’s exposure to Test-playing nations like the West Indies?

It was in the 1996 World Cup, when I was playing, and Kenya had a win over us. And that was a really, really big thing for them back then. And when Nepal went to Sharjah and registered wins against a top cricketing nation like the West Indies, it was an amazing achievement. Hopefully, Nepal cricket can grow from that.

Nepal also has a good coach. Stuart Law is a great coach. If you can work long with him, whatever he is doing and his plans, it will definitely make a big difference.

What should Nepal do in domestic cricket?

Nepal should make sure that they start organising different formats of cricket, not just T20 cricket. Longer formats, like two-day competitions, are important. It is because it will allow players to learn to play longer games and innings. And when kids play multi-day cricket, it will help them develop better. It will make shorter formats easier for them too.

Nepal is aiming for Test membership. How important is it?

It will definitely be a big thing for Nepali cricket because there is a lot to benefit from Test cricket. But before achieving Test status, you need to make sure that you have plenty of red ball cricket at home. There should be first division, second division and third division cricket with the red ball. You should show the ICC that you are playing longer formats of cricket.

South Asia is filled with cricket heavyweights. How should Nepal approach it?

Nepal is surrounded by heavyweights of cricket in South Asia. If you are not having enough cricket here, Nepali players can go to these countries and develop their skills and come back. It is a great opportunity to capitalise on for an emerging cricketing nation like Nepal.

You have signed a multi-year deal with Janakpur Bolts. How will you assist their cricket now?

I will always be working with the team. I will make sure that I can help them as much as I can. That is part of my job.

Your communication with Steve Smith regarding eye patches got popular recently. How was that?

Yeah. Steve messaged me. I just made sure that I gave him the right information that he needs for using the eye straps, or whatever people call them.