The many possibilities that Stuart Binny provides India
Stuart's is the extraordinary story of a young man who drifted away from mainstream cricket in 2007 by joining the Indian Cricket League.
Updated:
By R Kaushik, Wisden India
When the Binny family sits down for their first dinner together in nearly a decade, it will be with no little pride. Roger, the head of the family, was a key performer in India's march to the World Cup in England in 1983 as well as the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. Stuart, a chip off the old block, has already worked his way into the record books as the possessor of the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs.
Father and son are here in Australia on entirely different but reasonably related capacities. Stuart, of course, suddenly finds himself as the answer to the seam bowling allrounder hunt Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been on for a while. Roger, a national selector, is following India during the triangular series.
Stuart's is the extraordinary story of a young man who drifted away from mainstream cricket in 2007 by joining the Indian Cricket League, but then returned to the BCCI's fold and burst into the national team on the sheer weight of excellent domestic performances.
But let's get this straight first. Stuart Binny isn't the next Kapil Dev. He isn't the next Roger Binny, either. He is just Stuart Binny, 30, India international, handy medium pacer who can be devastating in helpful conditions, and a powerful striker of the cricket ball for whom no ground is big enough when he gets going.
Binny Junior hasn't yet set hearts aflutter or the adrenaline flowing when he is bowling, or when he is batting. Whatever he does, he does with controlled aggression, not through in-your-face rants and outlandish, over-the-top celebrations.Indeed, if he wasn't getting the ball to go a bit when there is swing on offer, or go a long way when the middle of his bat makes bruising contact with the ball, he could even have been labelled 'boring'. Which he isn't, of course.
It's hard to find any positives at all when you have been bowled out for 153 and been crushed by nine wickets with nearly 22 overs to spare, as India were by England at the Gabba on Tuesday (January 20). Truth to tell, there can't be many positives in such a scenario. Just about the only ray of hope came from a competent all-round display from Binny. His 44 from 55 deliveries and 1 for 34 from seven overs may not appear much to write home about, but don't dismiss those numbers on face value alone.
Binny came to bat at No. 7, at 67 for 5, with India in the middle of a spectacular collapse four for 10 from 28 deliveries. It was his first representative game in Australia, on a spicy surface with Steven Finn in the middle of a wonderful spell.
When the Binny family sits down for their first dinner together in nearly a decade, it will be with no little pride. Roger, the head of the family, was a key performer in India's march to the World Cup in England in 1983 as well as the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. Stuart, a chip off the old block, has already worked his way into the record books as the possessor of the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs.
Father and son are here in Australia on entirely different but reasonably related capacities. Stuart, of course, suddenly finds himself as the answer to the seam bowling allrounder hunt Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been on for a while. Roger, a national selector, is following India during the triangular series.
Stuart's is the extraordinary story of a young man who drifted away from mainstream cricket in 2007 by joining the Indian Cricket League, but then returned to the BCCI's fold and burst into the national team on the sheer weight of excellent domestic performances.
But let's get this straight first. Stuart Binny isn't the next Kapil Dev. He isn't the next Roger Binny, either. He is just Stuart Binny, 30, India international, handy medium pacer who can be devastating in helpful conditions, and a powerful striker of the cricket ball for whom no ground is big enough when he gets going.
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Binny Junior hasn't yet set hearts aflutter or the adrenaline flowing when he is bowling, or when he is batting. Whatever he does, he does with controlled aggression, not through in-your-face rants and outlandish, over-the-top celebrations.Indeed, if he wasn't getting the ball to go a bit when there is swing on offer, or go a long way when the middle of his bat makes bruising contact with the ball, he could even have been labelled 'boring'. Which he isn't, of course.
It's hard to find any positives at all when you have been bowled out for 153 and been crushed by nine wickets with nearly 22 overs to spare, as India were by England at the Gabba on Tuesday (January 20). Truth to tell, there can't be many positives in such a scenario. Just about the only ray of hope came from a competent all-round display from Binny. His 44 from 55 deliveries and 1 for 34 from seven overs may not appear much to write home about, but don't dismiss those numbers on face value alone.
Binny came to bat at No. 7, at 67 for 5, with India in the middle of a spectacular collapse four for 10 from 28 deliveries. It was his first representative game in Australia, on a spicy surface with Steven Finn in the middle of a wonderful spell.
India, already embarrassed, were in real danger of being humiliated when Binny joined Dhoni. For the next hour and a half, he batted with an authority few who haven't seen him bat in domestic cricket would have associated with him, riding the bounce beautifully, picking the gaps, running smartly between the wickets and using his feet with telling effect to the tricky offspin of Moeen Ali.
At one stage, Binny wasn't just outscoring Dhoni, he was outbatting his skipper.And he was doing so with the confidence of a man who knew he belonged at the highest level, no matter the cynical barbs that linked his World Cup selection to his father's presence in the selection panel. "Thanks Dad Stuart Binny", read a banner at the Gabba, not long after the younger Binny came out to bat. By the time he danced down the track and deposited Finn miles over long-on with crisp authority, that banner had beaten a hasty retreat.
Then, with England faced with the most modest run chase, Dhoni threw Binny the new ball. First over. Two slips and all.Shocking, almost. Nearly 51 weeks back to the day, at Seddon Park in Hamilton on his ODI debut, Binny got a piddly one over the 22nd of the innings with New Zealand chasing 279 for victory, this after not having batted in India's 278 for 5. DNB, 1-0-8-0 were his numbers after his first ODI, a clear indicator that the skipper had no confidence in the allrounder.
Things have evidently changed now. On the eve of India's opening game of this competition against Australia, Dhoni had thrown his lot behind Binny. "Irrespective of all the debate, the best seaming allrounder in India has been picked in the side. We are hoping he will stand up and take responsibility," MSD said.
Binny went some distance on Tuesday towards showing that he was capable of taking up responsibility and holding his own at the highest level. A subtle, intelligent change of pace brought him his first ODI wicket outside the subcontinent as Moeen was caught at mid-off in the middle of Binny's second-longest bowl in ODI cricket. He nipped the ball around, sometimes touched the mid-130s and stated his case with customary shy quietness 'I am around if you want me, and I bring a few skills with me to the table'. Dhoni has bemoaned the lack of firepower beyond No. 6, one of the reasons why he himself has been loath to tee off in the middle stages.
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"We have to see what is the best possible way we can use him," said Dhoni of the choice to hand Binny the first over of the English chase. "He is definitely someone who can swing the ball. Also, we wanted to see what he can do with the new ball because that opens up the arena for us, it opens up more possibilities for us. At least now, we know what he will do with the new ball and as this tournament progresses and before the start of the World Cup, we will be exactly sure as to when and how we want to use him."As India's hunt for pieces to complete the jigsaw before February 15 continues, Binny has offered a healthy headache.When Binny sits down with his father for dinner in Australia, he will do so with excitement not just at the family reunion, but at the possibilities that lie ahead. A year is truly a long time in international sport.
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