Sir Vivian Richards calls Marlon Samuels a serious competitor

West Indies batsman, Marlon Samuels, who played a brilliant knock in the World T20 final against England that ensured his team lifted the cup for the second time has earned the label of a “serious competitor” from West Indian legend Sir Vivian Richards.

It was Samuels who stood there and with his 66-ball 85 runs knock ensure the team was always in the chase and never lost out on the required rate despite losing wickets.

Sir Viv said praised Samuels and said he has always stood up and counter-attacked when the going gets tough.

Sir Vivian Richards said, “He may have some very indifferent days but Marlon is a serious competitor and I know that what Shane Warne would have said about his batting exploits against India and that really upset him and you could see that he was so committed,”

“There are some players who can score runs in some periods of time when it doesn’t really matter but Marlon, when the chips are down, he is one of those individuals you can point your finger at and say hey, he is going to (show up) on this particular day,” he added.

Sir Viv also defended him (Samuels) who was fined 30 per cent of his match fee of the final for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

Marlon Samuels was awarded the Man of the match of the final but, was found guilty to have breached Article 2.1.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match”. It happened in the last over of the match when the batsman who was at the non-striker’s end used offensive and abusive language for Ben Stokes who was bowling the last over.

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