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Ben Stokes responds to Marlon Samuels tirade in cryptic fashion

Stokes Samuels
by Wisden Staff 2-minute read

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has seemingly responded to Marlon Samuels through a series of stories on Instagram, following the West Indies batsman’s distasteful tirade against Stokes.

Stokes posted a series of stories one after another on Tuesday night, 14 in total, each representing a particular moment from Samuels’ controversy-ridden playing career.

Stokes’ Instagram stories were presented without any text or caption, and was seemingly a reaction to Samuels, who, on Monday, launched an ugly tirade at Stokes on Instagram. Samuels message followed Stokes’ comments on spending time in isolation, jokingly mentioning Samuels while saying that he wouldn’t wish it on his “worst enemy”.

While some of Stokes’s Instagram stories featured Samuels’ most celebrated accomplishments, including the twin T20 World Cup wins in 2012 and 2016, Stokes picked out controversial moments from Samuels’ playing time, including a verbal exchange between the duo during the 2016 England-West Indies final, his infamous send-off salute from the 2015 Grenada Test, and his on-field altercation with Shane Warne during the 2013 Big Bash League.

Other pictures had a shirtless Samuels celebrating the 2016 T20 World Cup final win, raising his bat after reaching his century in the 2012 Nottingham Test, and a thumbnail of a video, presumably featuring his innings from the 2012 T20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka, which read ‘Marlon Samuels – The Greatest T20I Innings Ever?’

Samuels’ comments were condemned by the cricketing fraternity on social media – Michael Vaughan called the response ‘appalling’, noting that Stokes’s ‘bit of banter’ should ‘not lead to this’.

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