Quote:Ordinarily, six tests without a big score wouldn’t have been that big a deal for someone with Chanderpaul’s stellar record. Were he 10 years younger, his current poor run would have been widely regarded as a temporary downturn in form from which the left-hander would soon emerge; the kind of slump that has visited every batsman not named Bradman.
At Chanderpaul’s advanced age, however, a dry spell is frequently considered terminal. At his age, a run of low scores is not normally attributed to bad habits infecting technique, or a run of bad luck. It is more likely to be seen as a diminution of the traits that made the player great in the first place: a slowing of reflexes, for example, a reduction in acuity of vision, or the decline of a previously pronounced ability to decipher line and length – maladies that are irreversible.
The considered wisdom, therefore, is that there will be no real comeback for Chanderpaul. Having made the lengthy, arduous climb to the top of the mountain, and having stayed there for a protracted period, he is now on his way back down. This is the path that all great sportsmen must tread, provided they stay in the game long enough. It can be disappointing, heartbreaking even, as the end approaches amid unmistakable signs of regression.