Stuart Binny announced his retirement from all forms of cricket recently but the son of the legendary Roger Binny did not get many chances in the international level.
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When Stuart Binny’s name made waves in the Indian cricket circuit, there was tremendous excitement. He was the son of the legendary Roger Binny. who had played a vital role in India’s 1983 World Cup triumph. His father was a regular member of a bowling unit that had Kapil Dev and Madan Lal in the side. Thus, the expectations from Stuart even before he came into the side was enormous. But, there were three major obstacles that obstructed his growth.
The first decision, in hindsight, was his participation in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that robbed him off some years. The second probably was the make-up of the Indian cricket team at that time who did not feel the need to play a bowling all-rounder in the side. The third was the emergence of Hardik Pandya, a hard-hitting all-rounder much more consistent with the ball. That potentially shut the door for Stuart to stay in the Indian team for a longer time. But, in the few opportunities that he got at that time, he managed to make a decent impact.
Armed with an action reminiscent of his father but a bit more open-chested, Stuart Binny began getting into his groove after accepting the BCCI amnesty following his withdrawal from the ICL. In his time in the ICL, Stuart already had made plenty of heads turn with his aggressive batting and smart swing bowling. He was already proving to be one of the solid pillars in the Rajasthan Royals side in the IPL from 2011. But, it was his domestic form for Karnataka that put him in the spotlight.
In 2013, with Karnataka eyeing glory, Stuart put in his best performances with both bat and ball. He smashed 443 runs at an average of 43 and had an average of 32 with the ball. That was the season that put him in pole position for an India place and he got it. He made his ODI and Test debut in 2014 in the series against New Zealand and England.
In the Trent Bridge Test match of 2014, India was in danger of collapsing. But Binny showed his prowess with the bat when he hit a solid 78. But, it was in the ODI against Bangladesh at Mirpur in the same year where Binny etched history. India was bowled out for 105 and in danger of humiliation against Bangladesh. But, Binny had other plans. He put in a brilliant bowling performance to take 6/4 in 4.4 overs as India bowled Bangladesh out for 58.
Sadly, that was the high point in Binny’s career and he never managed to reach them again.
Binny featured in a total of 14 ODIs but his returns were minimal with both bat and ball after the Dhaka miracle. He managed a high score of 77 in the ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare that remained his highest. He did play a couple of games in the tri-series before the World Cup that involved England and Australia. But, in the 2015 ICC World Cup, he was not picked and had to spend considerable time on the sidelines.
Binny did get to play another crucial role with the bat when he hit 49 and took two wickets in India’s first series triumph in Sri Lanka after 22 years. But, out of all his Tests, he did not get a chance to perform well at home. His lone Test was restricted to the Bangalore game against South Africa in which he bowled three overs. But, the remaining four days were washed out due to rain.
His final Twenty20 International was not something that he would want to remember. He came on to bowl in the Florida T20I but he was hit for five sixes by Evin Lewis as he conceded 32 runs in the only over that he bowled. At the same time, with Rajasthan Royals banned for two years due to spot-fixing, Binny got other teams but he did not get many chances. Having played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, Binny did not feature regularly as he did for Rajasthan Royals.
At one point in time, when his career was not going anywhere in cricket, he was at the end of some tasteless trolling. Many people were going after him and his broadcaster wife Mayanti Langer for the failures. The constant trolling hurt Binny as he never managed to replicate that one effort against Bangladesh that saw him with the best figures by an Indian bowler even today in ODIs.
With Binny now retiring and going into full-time coaching, one hopes that he has tremendous success in man-management. All the lessons that Binny learnt will serve him well in moulding the next generation of cricketers. It is just a shame that he could not get many opportunities. But, in the limited time that he was selected, he did make a decent impression.
