1. All About Stuart Binny by Cricket today
in Sports / Extreme Sports (submitted 2014-07-24)
Perhaps you missed it amidst the deafening trumpet of World Cup football bandwagon. Or,
answer this question: Who holds the current Indian record for the best bowling figures in one day
internationals (ODIs)? Hmm, Anil Kumble - six for 12 against West Indies in the Hero Cup
final? Well, Kumble had held that record. Now, another man from Karnataka holds the record.
His name is Stuart Binny.
Stuart Binny, that dibbly-dobbler who hurls the ball at a friendly pace? Yes, it is him. He took
six wickets against Bangladesh, giving away just four runs at Dhaka the other day. The next time
you read sports pages, don't allow the larger-sized football to eclipse the tiny red cherry.
Chip of the old block
Stuart Binny is son of former Indian cricketer Roger Binny. If you have seen Binny senior in
action in 1970s and 1980s, you could guess the relationship from Stuart's bowling action. He
could inspire a new scientific hypothesis that genes do carry the codes of bowling action. The
similarity ends when the action stops. Binny senior was much quicker. But Stuart can truthfully
claim that he is a better batsman, capable of hitting booming sixes and cheeky boundaries.
In India, having an influential parent is like holding a magic key that can open all the locks. It is
true in politics and truer in Bollywood. But in Indian cricket, performing star sons are an
exception rather than a norm - Mohinder Amarnath is one notable exception, along with Sanjay
Manjrekar and Ashok Mankad to some extent.
Stuart Binny's is a case that proves the opposite can be true - that having a cricketer father has its
own perils. In fact, Binny junior is a victim of the popular notion that papas always launch their
sons' careers.
Allegations of nepotism
Many so-called Indian cricket lovers are choosy in what they follow, what they see, and even
what they know. Many of them ignore Ranji Trophy cricket, but follow the Indian Premier
League (IPL) like a pack of hungry hyenas. Stuart Binny had a good IPL season with Rajasthan
Royals in 2013, and that is why the franchisee bought him again in 2014. But in the 2014 season,
he was well below his best. So, when he was chosen in the Indian team to tour England, for both
test and ODIs, many brows were raised - primarily because Roger Binny was one of the selectors
in the panel that chose the team.
Facebook walls and Twitter timelines emitted fury over the obvious case of nepotism. How can a
one-season IPL wonder walks into the Indian test cricket team? Another 4-0 drubbing is on the
cards. This happens only in India - thus went the reactions. They did not try to check his last
season's Ranji Trophy record. He played his part in Karnataka's triumph in the Ranji Trophy,
scoring handy lower-order runs and taking crucial wickets. That he had a celebrity wife, the
pretty TV anchor Mayanti Langer, fuelled the allegations.

2. Roger Binny's role
What is the procedure in the Board of Cricket Control in India's (BCCI's) selection panels if a
selector's son's name comes up for discussion? There are clear-cut definitions and procedures to
handle this obvious conflict of interest. The selector concerned must state this conflict of interest
and abstain from the discussion over the player's credentials and final decision-making.
Did Roger Binny follow this procedure when Stuart's name came up for scrutiny? Not many
people seemed to have checked this vital information. If they do, they will find out that Roger
Binny did exactly as specified in the procedure. He stated his conflict of interest and stayed away
from the proceedings.
Is that enough?
The questions do not stop by the mere absence of Roger Binny from the selection procedure?
Isn't it possible that he still influenced the decision by other means of lobbying with his
colleagues? After all, in the long history of Indian cricket team selection, there were many
instances of the you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours approach.
The truth about this allegation can never be verified. It is something that can neither be proved
nor be refuted. Only Roger Binny and his colleagues know this. Sandeep Patil, Vikram Rathore,
Rajinder Hans, Saba Karim and Roger Binny have been upright individuals who have never let
any allegations taint their playing career or beyond. It is a subjective thing whether to respect
their decision or not. But they have done well enough in their life and cricket to be eligible for a
fair bit of benefit of doubt.
The proof of the pudding is in eating
In matters subject to speculation, it is always better to wait and watch. In just a couple of weeks
after the selection controversy, Stuart Binny produced his best performance with the ball. He had
been chosen for the Indian team that toured Bangladesh. Suresh Raina was the team captain. A
number of regular stars had been rested. The tour that involved just three ODIs was so low
profile that the BCCI found it difficult to find television sponsors. That the tour coincided with
World Cup Football 2014 in Brazil did not help either.
There were only a few onlookers in the stands and some cricket tragics in front of television sets
and cricket websites when the series got underway in Dhaka. Binny was not part of the rain-
marred first match which Indian won by Duckworth - Lewis method. He got a chance to play in
the second match, in which rain catalyzed a sensational Indian batting collapse. India were
bowled for a paltry 105. It was then that Stuart Binny decided to offer his best pudding.
He produced an awesome spell of swing bowling and returned with six wickets while giving
away just four runs. And Bangladesh were bowled out for 58 runs. The performance did not get
the attention it deserved because Neymar and Messi were scoring all those goals in Brazil. Still,
the performance was good enough to shut up a number of abusive mouths.
The third match was washed away due to rain, but not before he had made an unbeaten 25 in the
India's score of 119 for nine.

3. Controversies and setbacks are not new to Stuart Binny's career. At the age of 30, he has only a
few years' cricket left in him. He is out there to make the most of it. He does not have much time
to waste, as he has lost too much time getting caught on administrative cobwebs.
Stuart Binny's fall and rise
As a son of an international cricketer, it was quite natural that Stuart had an early baptism with
cricket. He managed to model his bowling action on his father's, but never quite managed to
capture his father's speed and menace. He set out to make up for it with his batting skills. Soon,
he gained some sort of reputation as a useful cricketer at college level. In 2004, he was selected
to represent Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy.
He had a disastrous debut season. He appeared to have gone the way of many other cricketers'
sons who failed to do justice to their pedigree. However, the emergence of T-20 cricket changed
his fortunes. He was terrific in shorter format, where his fearless hitting and clever bowling are
of great value.
He was lured into the now banned Indian Cricket League (ICL), which was at that time
considered an opponent of the IPL. He became one of the most valuable players in the ICL. The
BCCI banned him and the other defectors for life. Unfortunately, the ICL failed to capture the
public imagination and collapsed.
A couple of years later, the BCCI offered amnesty to the players who joined ICL. Among the
few players who were drafted into the IPL from the rebel league was Stuart Binny. But unlike
Ambati Rayudu, who shone in the very first season of the IPL after coming back from the ICL,
Binny did not have a great debut. He was in Mumbai Indians in his first season. In the 2013
season, he joined Rajasthan Royals, where he had Rahul Dravid, who knows Binny's game inside
out, as the captain. Under Dravid's stewardship, Binny's game flourished. He became a fearsome
and innovative hitter.
He also bowled his medium pacers with excellent control over line and length and cl
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