Random Cricket Photos Post 36


#RandomCricketPhotosThatMakeMeHappy

For some reason, I find this photo very iconic, especially for how time puts a completely different shade to it. It would have made a lot of sense if this photo was from 2019 but it isn’t. This photo is from the 2015 Test between England and West Indies where a young Stokes is sent off by Marlon Samuels after getting dismissed for 8. Remember 2015 was Stokes’ second year in cricket while Samuels was in his 15th year as international cricketer.

To say the two didn’t like each other one bit would be an understatement and this showdown in the Caribbean proved only to be the tip of the iceberg of what was coming. Sparks flew again when the two met in Kolkata in the 2016 World T20 final where the umpires had to intervene as the two had a go at each other in the West Indies' chase. Till the 39th over of the match, it seemed Stokes will have his revenge as West Indies needed a mountain to climb in the final over to be bowled by Stokes. What panned out next, we remember very well. Of course, we 'remember the name'.

In the post-match press conference, Man of the match Samuels didn’t pull punches. He went all out. With his feet planted on the table, he called Stokes a ‘nervous lad who doesn’t learn’. This was after he had copped a 30% match fine for abusing Stokes during the match.

At the end of 2019, or the decade as some might say, the ‘nervous lad’ is hailed as one of the greatest of his ilk in this generation who went on to play two of the most memorable knocks in 2019 to take his team over the line when not many gave them a chance.

As cricket enters 2020, Samuels, despite two Man of the Match performances in World T20 Finals, is history. Ben Stokes, on the other hand, with his World Cup final 84* and Headingley 135* in the Ashes made cricket great again.

Can we have Samuels saluting Stokesy one more time?

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