Marlon Samuels is arguably the most talented batsman to emerge out of the West Indies in recent times. He is very stylish but adds a lot of substance along with it because of the talent he possesses - the perfect package whether you are a marketing man, a general fan or a purist who likes to see quality out there on the field.

At 26, Samuels can be termed an under achiever. He will play the most beautiful shots and deceive you into believing that you are in for watching some thing special before getting himself out. The test and one day averages of 28 and 30 respectively do not do his talent justice. In this, he has been following the path of V.V.S. Laxman and Carl Hooper.

However the good part is that he has time on his hand and seems to have finally turned the corner. The 63 off 70 balls in the inaugral world cup match was not out of the blue. In the 2006/07 season, Samuels has an average of 38 from 19 matches. It gets better if we consider only 2007 - an average of 51 from 5 matches which includes 3 fifties.

Crisis brings out the best in the mentally strong characters and the match fixing cloud may be a trigger for him to do greater things. With the likes of Bravo and Dinesh Ramdin, Samuels represents a core group of young cricketers who make you feel optimistic regarding West Indies cricket. They seem to have a fire in the belly which can transform the talented and gifted to performers on the world stage.