KOLKATA: An irate Marlon Samuels has taunted Shane Warne by dedicating his Man of the match award to the Australian spin legend and said he answers with the bat, not the mic.
"I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind. Shane Warne has been talking continuously and all I want to say is 'this is for Shane Warne'. I answer with the bat, not the mic," said Samuels at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"I played a Test series in Australia (in Januarly 2016) and Shane Warne has a problem with me. Don't know why. I've never disrespected him. It seems that he has a lot inside him that needs to come out.
"I don't appreciate the way he continues to talk about me and the things that he keeps doing," said Samuels, who scored an unbeaten 85 off 66 balls to guide his team to a four-wicket win over England in the final.
Samuels-Warne feud was reignited during his semifinal dismissal against India when Warne made some comments from the commentary box.
The duo also had an infamous run-in during the Big Bash in 2013 which continued to Test series earlier this year.
He also took an indirect dig at Warne's botox face and quipped: "May be my face is real his is not..."
There were words exchanged between Ben Stokes and Samuels before Carlos Brathwaite smacked the English medium pacer for four consecutive sixes in the final over.
Samuels said he thrived on the battle with Stokes.
"I keep telling him do not speak to me when we play each other because I'm going to perform. I knew that I had to be right there again. That's what I thrive on, that's why I'm around for so long despite so much of ups and downs."
With 19 runs required from last over, Brathwaite, who has been bought by Delhi Daredevils during IPL auction, blasted four sixes and Samuels said keeping cool was the key.
"I don't think I've to use much words to explain that. We have done that on many occasions. We believed in ourselves. We believe in each other. When a next player goes out there to bat we believe that he can do it for us. We stay calm. The most important thing is we don't panic in any situation.
"I told Brathwaite is to hold his pose. He is (Stokes) going to bowl a couple of fulltoss as always. It worked in our favour he played a brilliant knock, to give me a breather at the other end," he added.
Earlier he surprised the packed news conference when he spread his padded up legs on the table and had his way despite ICC's request to put the feet down.
Samuels said the negativity and talks fuelled their motivation to win the tournament.
"There was a lot of negative stuff not just in couple of weeks but over the year. We wanted to improve in ODI and Test. We have been a force to reckon with in T20. Yet there was a lot of negative talk when we entered the tournament.
"We should be given the due credit. We are a wonderful team. We play with passion and love for not ourselves but for the Caribbean people. The cricket means the entire world today just as it's religion in India."
Samuels was fined 30 per cent of his match fee for using abusive language during his heated exchange with Stokes at the finals.