Binny emulates his father, makes Test debut

 As it was widely expected, Stuart Binny made his Test debut for India against England on Wednesday at Trent Bridge, a simple cap handing-over by skipper MS Dhoni lacing the occasion.

Binny, whose father Roger played Tests for India and is curently a National selector, became the 281st Test player for India, and the latest from the rich stables of Karnataka. Before him, R Vinay Kumar, who made his debut at Perth against Australia in 2012, was the last player to make Test debut from the State.

 It was a remarkable turnaround for a man who made his first-class debut way back in 2003.

There never was any question on Binny’s talent, but the Karnataka man was marked as someone suited for limited-overs versions because of the way he played his game. Perhaps, even Binny himself wouldn’t have thought about playing Test cricket at that stage.

But the moment of realisation came in the 2011-12 domestic season in which he mustered 742 runs and 20 wickets, and in the subsequent season, Binny amassed more than 600 runs and took 19 wickets. Binny too acknowledged the significance of those two seasons. “Those two seasons gave me the confidence. I realised the importance of working on my consistency. Those two years have made me much mature as a cricketer,” Binny had said after his selection to the Indian one-day team for the tour of New Zealand.

That the Indian team management decided to take some risk and field five bowlers too helped Binny’s cause. The medium pacer showed his efficiency against Bangladesh in Dhaka recently, plucking six wickets for just four runs. The way Binny exploited a damp pitch caught the eyes of the mandarins.

The pitches in England have begun to shift allegiance to batsmen, but the unpredictable conditions here still offer a lot of hope for bowlers. Praveen Kumar showed that in 2011, bagging 15 wickets and Binny, a bowler of the same ilk, could prove effective here. Indian skipper Dhoni admitted it.

“Stuart is someone who can bowl a bit and bat as well. If we can groom him, then he can be someone who can do that job (pace bowling all-rounder) for us in the next 6-8 months. He won’t be as good as someone like (Jacques) Kallis but he can be someone who can bowl that 10 overs and bat a bit. He has got the talent,” said Dhoni.