I know my role in the team, says Binny

All-rounder says he'll get better with more chances

The critics may not be fully convinced about Stuart Binny’s continued presence in the Indian side, whichever the format maybe, but what matters most is the fact that he has the full faith of the team management.

That attestation of this confidence came when the Karnataka all-rounder was summoned to join the Test squad in Sri Lanka after Virat Kohli’s men, who went into the first game with five bowlers and a batsman light, suffered a shocking loss despite dominating the proceedings for majority of the game.

The 31-year-old didn’t set the turf afire but he did his job of a third seamer to near perfection under the circumstances as India went on to level the series at SSC, Colombo. This was also the match where he bagged his maiden Test wicket, when he dismissed Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews. The right-arm pacer had  in fact struck in his very first over after having Kaushal Silva caught behind only to find out much to his dismay that he had overstepped. Silva would have been his first Test victim in four appearances.

“When I did get him (Silva) to nick off in that game I was pretty happy but I had to wait a while to get a Test wicket,” recalled Binny here on Tuesday, on the sidelines of India’s seven-day preparatory camp here. “As I found out, bowling in Test cricket is not the easiest thing to do. I was really disappointed because when we practice in the nets, we always practice not bowling no-balls. That's not something I do very often but on that occasion I had overstepped.

I was pretty disappointed but I had to keep bowling again and again. What I've done in the past for my State team also is to bowl in good areas and wait for the batsmen to make mistakes.   It did disappoint me a bit but I finally came back and got one,” he said. Binny also revealed that before he got Mathews nick one to first slip, he had been cautioned by the umpire. “He had told me two-three balls before that I was getting close to the crease again. It was just a sign of relief, I guess.”

Regular fixture
Being the country’s best seaming all-rounder at the moment, Binny has been a regular fixture in the Indian contingent and has enjoyed some degree of success in the limited opportunities that have come his way since his ODI debut against New Zealand in Hamilton in January 2014.

While he is far from having sealed his spot in the final XI, he is definitely growing in confidence. “The way I look at it, every day I play cricket, I learn something from the game,” he noted.

“As Virat (Kohli) said, the more opportunities that I get the better I will do -- that's very true but it also has to come from within. It's also the preparation that goes into playing international cricket. It's the focus and the time spent in the gym or on your skills.”

While Binny will have his role cut out when he is part of the first-choice team, he has enjoyed greater success when he has been entrusted with bigger responsibility in the second-string squads. Against Zimbabwe this July, he scored 120 runs in three ODIs at an average of 60 and bagged six wickets, the highest by an Indian bowler. He also holds the best ODI figures (6/4 against Bangladesh in June 2014) for India.

“I have been spoken to about what exactly I should do when I'm bowling,” Binny pointed out. “I know my roles exactly — it may differ according to when I bowl in the game, how early I bowl in the game. It's pretty simple. I've got to contribute with both bat and ball. That’s why I'm in the team. It's something that I've enjoyed doing for Karnataka in the last 8-10 years. It's something I'm looking forward to doing for the Indian team as well,” he remarked.