QUEEN'S ROAD: The one-day International World Cup will be held next month in Australia and New Zealand. The Indian team of 15 for the tournament has just been announced. And the only one to make the squad from Karnataka is Bengaluru-based all-rounder Stuart Terence Roger Binny.
Son of former India all-rounder Roger Binny, Stuart is a product of Frank Anthony Public School and was trained initially at Imtiaz Ahmed Cricket Academy before his career took wings.
Stuart, a right arm medium pacer and a belter of a batsman on his day, is ideally suited to one-day cricket. Though he has done well for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy and for the South zone in the Duleep Trophy in the four-day games, he is more of a limited-overs cricketer at the international level.
He made his debut for Karnataka in 2003-04 and has not looked back since. Stuart played for the Hyderabad Heroes in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League in 2007. As it was an unofficial tournament, the BCCI and its affiliates didn’t pay attention to the players who were part of it. After it folded up, the players were pardoned and were eligible for selection for the state and national teams.
He later joined Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League and made substantial contributions towards their success. He has been regarded as a very effective finisher and has often delivered in crunch situations. The same goes for his performances in the Ranji Trophy for he has risen to the occasion when the chips were down for Karnataka.
Roger Binny becoming a selector and Stuart being selected later for India’s ODI team, which toured New Zealand in 2014, was a mere coincidence. Irrespective of who was on the panel, Stuart would have made the cut. He also made his test debut against England in 2014 making just one run in the first and a solid 78 runs in the second innings.
Stuart holds the record of producing the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs when he claimed six wickets giving away only four runs against Bangladesh in 2014.
Now comes the acid test for Stuart as he has the task of performing in the World Cup in testing conditions in Australia and New Zealand. The wickets will surely help him, for aggression is the watchword in his style of play.