West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels announces retirement from all forms of cricket

West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels has announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket. He last played international cricket for the West Indies in December 2018 against Bangladesh.

The news of his retirement was confirmed by Johnny Grave, Chief Executive of Cricket West Indies, to ESPNCricinfo.

Marlon Samuels is celebrated for his match-winning performances in the two ICC World T20 finals that the West Indians won. He scored 78 runs in a low-scoring encounter against Sri Lanka in the 2012 WC final as West Indies beat the host nation by 36 runs.

In the 2016 finals, which is famous for the four consecutive sixes Carlos Brathwaite hit off Ben Stokes in the final over, Marlon Samuels once again top-scored for his team with 85 runs. He was named the Player of the Match on both occasions.

#OnThisDay in 2016, West Indies became double @T20WorldCup champions! 🏆 They first beat 🇦🇺 by eight wickets in the women's final, before the men trumped 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 by four wickets in a finale which has been quoted many times since 👇 pic.twitter.com/qDW4WkpwtC

— ICC (@ICC) April 2, 2020

An underachiever who was always a big-match player

Looking back at the career of Marlon Samuels, the numbers would tell you that he never fulfilled his potential. But he was always there for the team when it mattered most.

The Jamaican made his Test debut against Australia in 2000 and played his first ODI against Sri Lanka later the same year. Samuels went on to represent the West Indies in 71 Test matches, 207 ODIs and 67 T20Is.

Samuels calls time on his career with a modest average of just under 33 in both Tests and ODIs, with seven centuries in the longer format and ten in ODIs. In T20Is, he has scored 1611 runs in 67 matches at a decent strike rate of 116.23.

The all-rounder has also taken 152 wickets across all formats for the West Indies over the course of his career.

The 39-year-old played a brief part in the IPL when he represented Pune Warriors India in 2012 and 2013, and then the Delhi Daredevils in 2017, but did not achieve much success.

Accolades and Records

Marlon Samuels was honored as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the year in 2013. The West Indies Cricket Board also named him the ODI Player of the Year and the Cricketer of the Year in 2016.

The right-handed batsman broke the record for the highest-ever ODI partnership, when he combined with Chris Gayle to put up 372 runs for the second wicket against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup.

Marlon Samuels is also the only player in the history of the game to have won Player of the Match awards in the finals of two global competitions.

Happy Birthday Marlon Samuels! Hope you celebrate this one ICON style! 💪🏽💪🏽🎂 #MenInMaroon #ItsOurGame pic.twitter.com/UeNFiUVrTN

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) February 5, 2019

Marlon Samuels: A player who was never away from controversies

Marlon Samuels was never away from controversies on or off the cricket field during his playing days.

He was handed a two-year ban in 2008 by ICC following his alleged involvement in transferring information to a bookie. This happened during the West Indies tour of India in 2008.

The Indian police accused Samuels of giving out match information to a bookie. After conducting a hearing into this matter, ICC handed him the ban for "receiving money, or benefit or other rewards that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute".

The all-rounder also had trouble with his bowling action throughout his career. He was first suspended from bowling in international cricket in 2008 after getting reported for a suspected action.

The same then happened again during the 2012 IPL after which he could not bowl for the rest of the season. The first Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka at Galle in 2015 witnessed the third episode of Samuels getting reported for his bowling action.

He even got into an ugly physical altercation on the field with Shane Warne during the Big Bash League in 2012. Both the players were suspended after this incident. Marlon Samuels missed the rest of the BBL season due to an injury sustained in the same match.

Even after being away from cricket for almost two years, Samuels was recently involved in a controversy yet again, as he used abusive and inappropriate language against Ben Stokes and Shane Warne on social media.