Stuart Binny: Another Indian cricketer showing great promise

Stuart Binny, mobbed by teammates during his dream spell against Bangladesh

When you have cricket running through your veins you do have an extra edge. But this hasn’t been true for Stuart Terrence Binny who has had his own share of hardships while evolving as a cricketer. Binny, son of the former great Indian all-rounder Roger Binny hasn’t had an easy going when it comes to his career. But he has overcome all the constraints and has been able to don the national cap and has established himself as a potential all-rounder.

Stuart, born and brought up in Bangalore, did not have a good start to his cricket career. He made his debut for Karnataka way back in 2003-04 season but his performances lacked the spark and ultimately he was left out of the playing eleven for his state side. Then came the Indian Cricket League, yes the same league which is directly or indirectly responsible for the advent of the IPL. Binny made a mark in this tournament playing for the Hyderabad side and established himself as one of the best all-rounders of the tournament. His hard hitting blended with his medium pace bowling earned himself a place in the Indian eleven of the ICL.

Things had started to blossom for this Bangalore lad and in order to resurrect his career with his Ranji side, Binny accepted the amnesty offered by the BCCI and since then he has never looked back. Initially, Binny was part of the Mumbai Indians set up in the IPL.

That is interesting isn’t it? To be able to spot a talent and just let them go in the seasons to follow has been one mantra which the Mumbai Indians camp has followed religiously. Yuzvendra Chahal, Glenn Maxwell are some of the other names who will strengthen this fact. Stuart moved to the Rajasthan Royals in the year 2011 and from then on, his performances have set out a signal that he does belong to the biggest stage of this game. His performances with the bat and the ball brought him a place in the Indian squad.

Binny, who is more of a batsman, emerged as the highest run-getter for his state side in the 2011 Ranji Trophy season. His bowling too has been sensational; thanks to the opportunities he has got owing to the absence of the main stream bowlers of the Karnataka side who were on national duty.

The Bangalore lad hasn’t hogged the greatest limelight but he is known to be somebody who has been a crisis man taking his respective teams out of tricky situations. He has done that with the bat for Karnataka, thanks to the poor form of the top order batsmen and at the same time he has done it for Rajasthan Royals too.

In the ongoing tour of Bangladesh, Binny produced a spell of bowling that gave India a victory out of nowhere. Having been all out for just 105, Binny’s ability to take the pace off the bowl and his lethal swing bowling helped him notch six wickets in his kitty for just 4 runs. This has gone into the record books as the best spell ever by an Indian in ODIs surpassing Anil Kumble’s record of 6 for 12.

These are propitious signs for Indian cricket fans, who are desperate for an all-rounder. This guy has talent and now it is left to the Indian board to groom him well and be able to make the best use of him as a cricketer. Who knows, he might turn out to be the Indian version of Andrew Flintoff for all we know.