New Delhi: After helping West Indies to their second ICC World Twenty20 title on Sunday, veteran batsman Marlon Samuels sarcastically dedicated the victory and his man of the match award to his bête noire Shane Warne.
West Indies chased down a tricky target of 155 runs against a resilient English side in front of a capacity Eden Garden crowd with two balls remaining in the match.
Samuels didn't waste the chance, and during the post-match interview with the broadcasters of the tournament he cracked at the spin legend.
"I didn't say much other than swing and swing hard. This is for Shane Warne," Samuels, who played a match winning unbeaten knock of 85 off 66 balls.
The West Indian was a subject of ridicule after he was dismissed for 8 off 7 balls in a crucial stage against India in their semi-final match at Mumbai, which they eventually won by seven wickets.
Warne, during commentary, said “Well, this is a bit embarrassing for Marlon Samuels... Look where he is. He’s nearly off the pitch backing away again. He’s backed away every ball."
The Jamaican backed away from an Ashish Nehra slower ball and popped up a simple catch to Ajinkya Rahane.
“I said the ball before, if he (Nehra) 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,” Warne added.
Talking about his streak in the finals, Samuels said:
"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 - this is for the Caribbean. If we get a good start, then I can step on it, we lose wickets early so it's different."
Samuel also played an equally pivotal innings in 2012 final, against Sri Lanka, scoring 78 off 56 balls.
