Amidst the euphoria and the celebration that broke out at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata after the West Indies scripted a memorial victory, there was an undercurrent of anger. Brathwaite's nonchalant hitting as he dispatched Stokes to the stands for four consecutive deliveries in the last over saw the Windies come back from a difficult situation and go on to become the champions.
Emotions ran high as the West Indies players broke into their trademark 'Champion' dance celebrating the treble. The players clearly had not gotten over their emotion by the time the post-match prize distribution started. Marlon Samuels after receiving the Man of the Match award for his unbeaten knock of 85 off 66 balls ended his passionate speech by taking a sly dig at the spin legend Shane Warne.
Samuels' anger
Though Brathwaite's sixes clinched it for the Windies at the end, it was Samuels who played a consolidated innings and batted throughout even when they were losing wickets at the other end.
A visibly drained and emotional Samuels spoke passionately about how much he cares for the finals and was determined to score runs in this match. “I know about finals, when I come to finals, I turn up for the team. All respect to the England players, we want to move from strength to strength," he said.
He then went to take a potshot at Shane Warne. "I wake up this morning, I had one thing on my mind. Shane Warne has been talking continuously and I will have to say that this [the trophy] is for Shane Warne. I answer with my bat, I don't answer with the mic."
Samuels interestingly continued his rant in the post-match conference when he referred to the continuous criticism he received from Warne during their Test series in Australia that ended earlier this year. "I don't know why he hates me. Maybe it's because my face is real and his face is not," Samuels quipped sarcastically.
Shane Warne's criticism of Samuels
Shane Warne has been vocal on air in his criticism of Samuels and his technique during the ongoing T20 World Cup. Samuels had gotten out cheaply in the semi-final against India and Warne had lambasted him on air calling his technique 'embarrassing' and 'pretty poor'.
Samuels had never looked comfortable in that short innings against India and seemed to be backing away too early anticipating the short delivery. After he got out spooning an easy catch to Rahane at mid-off, Warne was vociferous in his criticism of the West Indian.
"Well, this is a bit embarrassing for Marlon Samuels," he said.
"And all it was just a normal length ball from Ashish Nehra. I said the ball before, if he can give him a good short one and get one outside off stump that Marlon Samuels was backing away so much he nearly couldn't reach it. For your No.3, Marlon Samuels, in this situation in such a big game, that's an embarrassing dismissal. That's pretty poor."
Interestingly, the animosity between Warne and Samuels dates back to their infamous clash during a game in the Big Bash League in 2013.
The Warne-Samuels controversy at the BBL
The infamous clash between the duo took place during a match between the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars in the BBL back in 2013. Earlier in the innings, Samuels had angered Melbourne Stars batsman David Hussey as he grabbed his shirt and prevented him from taking a second run.
When it was Samuels' turn to bat, Warne who was bowling unleashed a verbal tirade at him while also grabbing the West Indians' shirt and jabbing a finger at his face. Warne who was mic'd up for Fox Sports at that time was heard swearing, "Come on Marlon. You grab some old people. F**k you mate."
In the very next over, Warne fielded a ball hit towards him and flipped it back at Samuels from close range. Tempers flared as Samuels, in turn, reacted furiously throwing his bat into the air over Warne's head. The situation got ugly and the umpires had to intervene eventually.
Samuels had harsh words for Warne after that game and had said that kind of behaviour was unbecoming of a legend like Warne. "It's not a war, it's a game," he said. "I was able to come out on top with him behaving the way that he was behaving. He's supposed to be a legend in Australia. What he did was give me the stripes so I am the legend now.''
Warne was fined $4500 and suspended for one match for his behaviour. But that was only the beginning of what has turned out to be an ongoing war of words between the two. Warne had taken another dig at Samuels after he was run out in the Sydney Test against Australia earlier this year.
Warne was commentating on Channel Nine at that time had said, “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.
“What was Samuels doing? He was just in no-man’s land saying ‘yes’, ‘no’, then just stood in the middle of the wicket and blames his partner.“Sorry Marlon, it’s all your fault.” Warne had also said that Samuels 'hasn't done anything in this Test match' after the Hobart Test.
Samuels must have been itching to have a go at Warne and seems to have got some of his own back now. Even Warne had to eat his words and concede that Samuels had played a great innings in the congratulatory tweet he sent out.
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