GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Former West Indies Under-19 opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul says he plans to use the upcoming first-class season to improve his batting in the longer format of the game as a member of the Guyana Jaguars franchise.

Chanderpaul, son of former West Indies batting star Shivnarine Chanderpaul, has been training with the Jaguars, the defending champions of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Professional Cricket League’s (PCL) four-day tournament.

The second edition of the PCL, which replaced the regional first-class competition involving territories, is due to start in November.

“Hopefully if I get a knock in the tournament, I’ll try and get some runs and do well for the team, because we are the defending champions and we have to retain that status,” said the 19-year-old left hander.

“After I finish training in the mornings here (with the team), I usually go home and practise my batting in the nets about an hour or so with the bowling machine.”

Chanderpaul, who will be looking to follow in the footsteps of his father, has a total of nine first-class matches with an average of 20.

At the Under-19 level last year, he was an outstanding performer at the top of the order for young West Indies, scoring 112 against India at the 2014 World Cup in Dubai.

Chanderpaul says he intends to continue working on being patient while playing the longer format.

“When you go out to bat, you try to get a start, don’t play too many shots, just try and stay tight until you get a start,” he said.

“Get in and then you start scoring a bit more freely. I try and stay tight upfront. As an opening batsman, the new ball does a bit. You’ve just got to try and stay tight and bat off the sheen.”