Marlon Samuels took a dig at Shane Warne in the post match presentation ceremony when he sarcastically dedicated his Man of The Match award to Shane Warne.
Winning a Man of The Match award once in a World Cup final would be any batsman's dream. Winning it twice and you would call it legendary. This is exactly what Marlon Samuels did as he played a match winning innings of 85 not out to rescue West Indies in the final.
Though Carlos Braithwaite stole the show with an equally sensational innings of 34 from just 10 deliveries, which included four sixes off four balls off Ben Stokes' last over, Marlon Samuels without doubt was a deserving Man of the Match winner. When England skipper Eoin Morgan handed the second over to Joe Root, who is not even a conventional bowler, it was a very big gamble. However, that proved to be a master stroke as the talismanic batsman claimed the big wickets of Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles, giving away just nine runs.
David Willey then dismissed Lendl Simmons putting the Windies in a heap of trouble at 11-3. The significance of Marlon Samuels' innings lies here. Coming at a score of 11-3, and playing a very composed innings of 85 was exceptional from the West Indian batsman.
But Samuels' emotions got the better of him, when his jibe at Shane Warne in the presentation ceremony and arrogant behaviour in the post match press conference overshadowed his brilliant knock. While having a word with Nasser Hussain in the ceremony, Samuels said he would dedicate his award to Shane Warne (who had criticised him for his performance in the semifinal) and that unlike Warne, he does the talking with the bat and not with the mike.
More to add, in the post match press conference, the batsman with his pads on, put his feet on the table and answered questions while continuously taking jibes at Warne and Ben Stokes.
(Watch: Marlon Samuels slams Shane Warne)
(Samuels with his feet up at the post match press conference)
This is how the Warne-Samuels saga began
Big Bash League match between Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars on January 6th, 2013
While bowling to David Hussey, Marlon Samuels appeared to pull Hussey back as he was trying to go for a second run. Hussey wasn't pleased with his effort of Samuels. Shane Warne, who was Hussey's team mate, did not hold back when he came to bowl to Samuels. After bowling a delivery, Warne expressed his anger by swearing at Marlon Samuels.
It did not end here. In Clint McKay's over, Samuels playes a shot to Warne, who in an attempt to give the ball back to the keeper, threw it towards Marlon Samuels which hit him. Samuels reacted to this by dangerously flinging his bat in the air towards Warne. This led to a heated altercation between the two. Although the players and umpires intervened and stopped the incident from heating up further, Warne was fined 4,500 AU and slapped a one-match ban for the use of obscene language. Samuels, too, was handed a hefty fine. However, Warne later apologised for his behaviour.
(The Shane Warne and Marlon Samuels incident in Big Bash League)
The 2015-16 West Indies tour of Australia in a test match
Shane Warne continued his jibes at Marlon Samuels in the commentary box during this test series.
"Marlon Samuels is Mr Experience out there but he hasn’t really given anything in this Test match so far. He’s fielded on the boundary, hasn’t shown any enthusiasm or any intensity," Warne was quoted as describing Samuels's presence during the first Test at Hobart according to a report on foxsports.com.au.
When involved in a run-out, Warne commented, "Horrific running from Marlon Samuels there. He hit it in the gap and he was just sort of too cool for school when he took off...Sorry Marlon, it’s all your fault,"
The 2016 ICC World T20 semifinal between India and West Indies
In a report by The Indian Express, Warne quoted, "For your No.3, Marlon Samuels, in this situation in such a big game, that’s an embarrassing dismissal. That’s pretty poor. He’s too cool to be schooled,"
The Jamaican seems to have taken this quite seriously and burst out after playing this amazing knock. However before the presentation ceremony, Warne had congratulated Samuels and West Indies.
So this is how the intense rivalry began and unfolded. Hope that Shane Warne doesn't respond to this jibe.
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 "Shane Warne and Marlon Samuels")
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