Marlon Nathaniel Samuels (born February 5, 1981) is a former Jamaican cricketer who played in all three formats internationally for the West Indies and a former ODI captain. He is a mid-order right-handed batsman and an off-spinner.

Marlon Samuels is a former Jamaican cricketer who played in all three formats internationally for the West Indies and a former ODI captain. He is a mid-order right-handed hitter and an off-spinner. He was a key member of the West India team that won the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 and the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 and was named Man of the Match in the finals of both tournaments, becoming the first man to accomplish the feat.

Early Life

As the brother of former West Indian cricketer Robert Samuels, it was not unexpected that Marlon showed signs of becoming a great player from an early age. He missed school to practice batting, believing the study would distract him from his goal of joining the Windies cricket team.

His hard work bore fruit early and he was called up to represent his country before even representing Jamaica in a first class game.

Domestic Career

On October 9, 2005, Samuels recorded his highest first-class innings score of 257. It was made in a tour match against Queensland at the Gabba. His performance was a record score on floor, beating Martin Love's 250. He showed his all-around ability and followed it up the West Indian tour of Australia by 5 wickets in the next innings

The Bangladesh Cricket Board established the six-team Bangladesh Premier League in 2012, a 220 tournament to be held in February this year. An auction was held for teams to buy players and Samuels was bought by Duronto Rajshahi for $360,000. He was the team's highest run scorer with 242 from 11 innings in the contest. In February 2012, Samuels signed a contract with Pune Warriors India to play for them in the 2012 and 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL).

The 2012 IPL clashed with Australia's West Indies tour and Samuels was given permission to skip the three Test series and play in the league. During the tournament, he was reported for a suspicious bowling action and suspended from bowling for the remainder of the competition.

In October 2012, Samuels was selected for the Melbourne Renegades in the 2012/2013 Big Bash T20 League.
Samuels helped Peshawar Zalmi win the 2017 Pakistan Super League and the Kowloon Cantons win the 2017 Hong Kong T20 Blitz.

Despite his recent success, he was only selected in the 8th round of the 2017 Caribbean Premier League draft when he was picked by the St. Lucia Stars.

International Career

Samuels scored his first Test hundred against the Indians in Kolkata in 2002/03. His 104 innings helped the West Indies draw the 3rd Test and was made against the likes of Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. His first ODI ton came in the following series and turned out to be series-winning innings. With the 3-3 series level going into the final in Vijayawada on November 24, 2002, Samuels hit 108 balls, not just 75 balls. The West Indies finished with 315 and won with 135 runs.

He played in two Tests on the 2005 tour of Australia with a top score of 29 before being sent home with a knee injury.

Against Pakistan in Multan in late 2006, Samuels scored his second ODI century. His unbeaten 100 led the West Indies to victory as they successfully pursued the Pakistan total. A month later he was just short of another century against the Indians in Chennai, but his quick-fire 98 helped his team chase India's 268. Samuels also played for the Chicago Tornados as part of the Pro Cricket League in the United States.

In January 2007, Samuels was named Man of the Match after scoring 94 and 40 in the first Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth, a game the West Indies won by 128 runs. He posted his second Test hundred in the final game, scoring 105, although that wasn't enough for his side to win the game or series. Samuels was involved in Brian Lara's run-out in his last international match against England during the 2007 World Cup. Lara was at 18 when Samuels signaled a fast run but failed to reach the other wicket in time as Kevin Pietersen underarmed the ball to hit the stumps.

Ban 2008

On February 25, 2008, Samuels was suspended from bowling in international cricket pending rectification of his bowling action deemed suspicious. Indian Police accused Samuels of leaking team information to a well-known bookmaker ahead of the 1st West Indies-India ODI in Nagpur on 21 January 2007. It was alleged that she recorded phone conversations between a bookie, Mukesh Kochchar, and Samuels. The transcript was later released by the police.

In May, after hearing the matter, the International Cricket Council handed the 27-year-old a two-year ban for having received "money, benefits or other rewards likely to bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute." Samuels said his innocence.

Return 2010

Samuels' two-year ban expired on May 9, 2010, and he subsequently returned to play for Jamaica. West India chief voter Clyde Butts said the door was open to Samuels to serve the Windies in international cricket provided he proved himself on the home circuit. During the 2011 World Cup in February and March, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo suffered an injury and the West Indies Cricket Board asked Samuels to fly in as a substitute. Samuels declined, stating that he didn't feel ready but was aiming to return during India's tour of the West Indies in June and July.

The West Indians were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Cup and the team's first engagement thereafter hosted Pakistan in April and May. When the T20I squad was announced, four players were added without a cap and Samuels was recalled, marking a return to the squad for the first time since his suspension expired. Samuels returned to the Test side for the second Test, scoring a half-century in his first innings.

Samuels was named Man of the Match in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Finals in which the West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 36 runs to capture the title. He hit 78 of 56 balls, an innings that included six sixes and three fours. He was named by the ICC to the "Team of the Tournament" for the 2012 T20 World Championship.

Samuels was also named Man of the Match in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 final in which he scored an unbeaten 85 ball from 66 to help West Indies beat England by 4 wickets and win their second World Twenty20 title.

For his performances in 2012, he was named Test XI and T20I XI of the Year.

During the pool match against Zimbabwe at the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Samuels scored his 8th ODI century. He tied with Chris Gayle for a record-breaking 372 run for the second wicket, which is the highest partnership for a wicket in ODIs. In the match, Gayle also recorded the first double century in World Championship history.

Samuels was the 2016 West Indian Cricket Player of the Year.

On 24 February 2017, Samuels discussed his omission from the West Indies squad with WICB and proposed accepting a Kolpak deal at County Cricket. However, on 21 August 2017, WICB made the decision to bring in Samuels along with Gayle to return ODIs for the series against England.

Career Stats

Test Match Stats

Marlon Samuels was part of 71 test games and he was also part of 207 ODI games. In Test play, Marlon Samuels has batted 127 innings and he has 3,917 runs in Test games. According to the records, Marlon Samuels Highest Score (HS) in Test matches is 260, Marlon Samuels AVG score when batting is 32.64 and the balls seen in Test matches is 8219. Now let's move on to Marlon Samuels batting strike rate , the batsman scored 47.65 batting average (SR). In Test cricket, a batsman's batting rate is of secondary importance to his ability to score runs without folding

ODI Matches Stats

A One Day International is a type of limited overs cricket played between two teams with international status, where each side faces a fixed number of overs. Now joining Marlon Samuels in ODI, he was part of 207 games and had 5606 runs followed by 196 innings, 133* highest scoring. What's the NO for Marlon Samuels in ODI matches? Marlon Samuels Not Out is ranked 26th in ODI matches. In cricket, a batsman is not considered out until he has made a full innings. Marlon Samuels' highest batting average in ODI is 75.11 and the number of balls Marlon Samuels faces in ODI games is 7463.

Rise to Glory

After returning from a knee injury in 2006, Samuels played one of the most memorable shots of his career. His unbeaten 100 helped West Indies successfully chase Pakistan's total. Another match win against India the next month cemented his place in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup squad.

Following his suspension in 2008, Samuels returned to Jamaica in 2010 where he put his head down and improved his game. He made his comeback when West Indies hosted Pakistan in April 2011.

Samuels showed exceptional cricket in the 2012 tour of England. He hit 386 carries in five innings, including three fifties and a century.

At the T20 World Cup that followed the same year, Samuels won the Man of the Match award in the final against Sri Lanka where he scored a quick 78 to help West Indies win the title.

He repeated this feat in the 2016 World T20 as well, scoring an unbeaten 85 ball from 66 to lead West Indies to their second T20 World Cup title.

Record 

He holds the record of being the only player to win Man of the Match twice in a T20 World Cup final. He also holds the record for the highest single score (85) in a T20 World Cup final.