Marlon Samuels faces action for abusing Ben Stokes
West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels may have led his team to victory in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016; however, he has been pulled up for verbally abusing England bowler Ben Stokes, reported Cricbuzz.
The incident occurred in the final over of West Indies’ successful run chase as the veteran batsman made Stokes a victim of his verbal rant. In the process, Samuels was guilty of breaching Article 2.1.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct which is related to “using a language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match.”
As a result of his actions, Marlon Samuels was fined 30% of his match fee for the Level 1 offence that he committed in the final of the T20 World Cup. The West Indian batsman took ownership for his offence and accepted the fine handed out to him by match referee Ranjan Madugalle. This ensured that there was no hearing in the case.
All four umpires involved in the match – Kumar Dharmasena, Rod Tucker, Marais Erasmus and Bruce Oxenford – pressed the charges against Samuels for his unacceptable behaviour.
The incident took the sheen off a memorable performance with the bat from Marlon Samuels. Just like he did in the final of the previous final that West Indies won in 2012, the experienced batsman scored an unbeaten 85 to lead his team to yet another T20 World Cup triumph.
Samuels received the prestigious ‘Player of the Final’ award for his heroics in a thrilling encounter which rounded off the marquee tournament of T20 cricket.