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.