For someone, who always preferred cricket over academics, it’s probably a fitting reward that Marlon Samuels stole the limelight in West Indies’ historic triumph in the World T20 final against Sri Lanka on Sunday. It also helped him emerge from the shadows of a rather controversial career.

Samuels smashed 78 off 56 balls to help West Indies score a modest 137-6 after they elect to bat and were reduced to 32-2 off the first 10 overs. The Jamaican then restricted the hosts with his tidy off-spinners, taking 1-15 off four steady overs, as Sri Lanka were shot out for 101 in front of the packed Premadasa crowd in Colombo.