Marlon Samuels retires from all forms of cricket

West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels has announced his retirement from all forms of the game. The former all-rounder played a vital role in West Indies’ twin triumphs at the T20 World Cup, top-scoring in the final of both the tournaments against Sri Lanka and England in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

While Samuels’ decision has become public now, Johnny Grave, the Cricket West Indies chief executive, has confirmed that the batsman had told CWI of his retirement in June, according to ESPNcricinfo. The 39-year old last plied his trade for the West Indies way back in December 2018. Samuels will be always remembered for turning up on big occasions, especially in the two T20 World Cup finals.

In 2012 against hosts Sri Lanka, Samuels delivered a batting masterclass in Colombo against a bowling lineup boasting the likes of Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis. He was on 20 off 32 balls after 10 overs of West Indies’ innings, with the team score at 32 for 2, before taking the hosts to the cleaners and finish on 78 off 56 balls. West Indies had gone on to win the clash with ease to win their first-ever T20 World Cup.

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Four years later, he starred with the bat again, scoring an unbeaten 85 off 66 balls as West Indies beat England in Kolkata to become the first and so far the only team to win the T20 World Cup twice. Samuels has finished his international career with an impressive 11,134 runs across formats with the help of 17 centuries. He also picked up 152 wickets.

Marlon Samuels – Controversy’s favourite child
During his career, Marlon Samuels also found himself involved in several controversies. Way back in 2002, he had landed in hot water after defying a team curfew in India and was almost sent home. In 2008, he was banned for two years by the ICC after he was found guilty of “receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute”.

In 2014, he openly took a stance against the then West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo during the aborted tour of India, saying that he had wanted the series to be completed. Recently, he was in the news for all the wrong reasons after posting an expletive-laden message on Instagram to slam Ben Stokes and Shane Warne.