Kolkata, April 4 (IANS) Adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his stupendous 66-ball 85 in the final of the World Twenty20, West Indies batter Marlon Samuels took a dig at spin legend Shane Warne who recently criticised him on television for not scoring runs.
“I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind. Shane Warne has been talking continuously and all I want to say is ‘this is for Shane Warne’. I answer with the bat, not the mic,” Samuels said at the post match presentation ceremony.
Later in the press conference, where he had his padded legs up on the microphone table, the Jamaican said: “I play a Test series in Australia and Shane Warne has a problem with me. I don’t know why he disrespects me, I have never done that. Seems like he has all the wrath inside him that needs to come out. I would appreciate if he did not continue to talk about me. I don’t know why he does it, may be because my face is real and his is not.”
He also lambasted England all-rounder Ben Stokes whom Carlos Brathwaite in the ultimate over of the game smashed for four consecutive sixes to gift West Indies a four-wicket victory.
“Stokes is a nervous lad. I told Brathwaite to hold his pose and he will bowl a couple of full toss and as always it did work in our favour,” Samuels said.
“He does not learn. I keep telling him whenever he plays against us, ‘do not speak to me’ because I am going to perform. He did not even face a ball and had so much to say today. He did that again. That’s what I strive on. That is why I have been here for so long.”
The 35-year-old said West Indies might not be a side which does well in One-Day Internationals or Tests, but in T20s they have been quite successful and therefore deserve respect.
“A lot of negative stuff, not just in the last couple of weeks but prior to that as well. We want to improve in Tests and One-Day cricket. We have been a force to reckon with in the T20 version. But still when we were coming into this tournament a lot of people were saying negative things. Now people should respect us and give credit to what we do,” Samuels stated.
“We are a wonderful team and we play not for ourselves but for the Caribbean people. Cricket means the world to them just as cricket in India.”
Speaking about the thrilling chase, where West Indies got over the line with just 2 balls to spare, Samuels quipped,” I don’t need to use much words to explain that. We have done it on many occasions. We believe in ourselves, we believe in each other. When the next player goes out to bat we believe he can get it done as well. So we stay calm and don’t panic in any situation.”
