England vs India 2014: The dilemma named Stuart Binny
Stuart Binny is a lucky man. His father is not only a prominent name in Indian cricket, but currently a national selector as well. His beautiful wife is a sports journalist with ESPN and a fairly familiar face on television. Still, the son of Roger Binny and husband of Mayanti Langer, couldn’t have been the luckiest debutante in Test cricket had the surface at Trent Bridge been an usual English pitch.
A pitch to forget at Trent Bridge
You don’t often see British curators admitting their mistakes at the end of the first day of a Test match, and you certainly don’t get to watch flat tracks in a country like England. Alastair Cook tried his hand at diplomacy with comparisons with a certain Nagpur Test, but truth be told, this dead Nottingham surface outwitted even the timid skippers with its meekness and docile behavior.
The uncertainties in this match far exceeded the distinctions of English weather and assumed such proportions that two back-to-back century partnerships were scored for the last wicket stands including a world record, and batsmen like Cook clowned down the popping crease to claim a wicket or two.
Further, the few fragments of optimism that a result might be possible were convincingly put to rest by a man whose innocuous presence on the field for the last four days had given the impression that India’s erroneous selection had reduced the team to, effectively, 10 men. Binny fell 22 short of a debut century at No. 8 but succeeded in saving the match and ensuring his selection hadn’t been an error.
With a lifeless pitch on offer and no assistance for seamers whatsoever, India had already realized their blunder of not playing two spinners. They suffered, and so did England with a solitary part-time spinner in Moeen Ali, for such conditions had been entirely unanticipated.
The case for including Ravichandran Ashwin along with Jadeja for the next match at Lord’s would have been stronger had Mr. Langer not fulfilled his role as a batsman and guaranteed that it will not be easy to drop him. Blame the pitch, blame the casual part-time spin, blame lady luck shining on the right-hander – but Binny has constructed an argument of his own.
Braving the odds
At 145 for 6 with still a few overs to go before lunch, Stuart Binny walked down to take strike. At the non-striker’s end, stood the man, who had been knighted by the social media and had hitherto looked clueless even on this surface. Ravindra Jadeja was desperately trying to spare the viewers of the agony of watching him, but the cherry was beating his edge almost determinedly every time.
Meanwhile, the southpaw’s partner was in for some luck. Anderson and Broad had their incisive spells completed and he managed to survive two run-out chances. Once settled, he capitalized on the flatness of the pitch and scored fluently. The natural stroke-play and positive intent were amply evident as Binny marched on to 78 before a Moeen Ali delivery turned sharply and brushed his pads in front of the wicket. By then, India had effectively saved a match they had fancied winning on the third day.
The persisting quandary
Interestingly, Binny was drafted into the team more as a seaming option who can bat a bit at No. 8. Originally, he was to bowl 10 overs a day, provide a couple of breakthroughs and help the Ishant Sharmas stay fresh for the new ball. Instead, MS Dhoni ended up under bowling him and he remained completely unnoticed for a major part of the England innings.
The change that India would have to effect at Lord’s was pretty obvious before Binny walked out from the pavilion on Sunday. By the time he walked back, the obviousness had been severely diluted. The unassuming Bangalorean had left all the selectors in a precarious dilemma. To play or not to play was now the question.
It was abundantly manifest that the allrounder’s pedestrian pace was far from intimidating for even the lower order English batsmen. Yes, the quality of his bowling cannot be determined on such a pitch, but Dhoni would have to allow for a number of adjustments in order to accommodate Binny at Lord’s.
Ashwin for Jadeja seems the reasonable selection
For instance, Binny has to be promoted into the top six – if not, at least ahead of Jadeja – by virtue of his batting. He has shown character when chips were down and certainly needs to be backed by the selectors and the team. The conditions at Lord’s may not be as unforgiving and Dhoni needs to sort out whether he wants to rely on Binny for rolling his arms for a good 15-20 overs per innings.
Personally, I’d prefer to have Binny in the team and replace the hapless Jadeja with Ashwin since the left-hander is adding nothing to the batting that Ashwin doesn’t. Moreover, Ashwin is a far better turner of the ball than the all-rounder.
There’s no alternative to a skipper’s confidence on his teammate, especially when the latter happens to be on debut. The Indian skipper needs to back Binny and play him regardless of the result because dropping him after a relatively responsible knock may prove to be just enough for destroying his confidence and hampering his form.
That said, the surface and conditions at Lord’s will play a pivotal role in deciding the playing eleven and Dhoni has to act for the benefit of his team. Even if Stuart Binny finds that he has already played the last match of his career, he will rest assured that he had done the job for his country when it had mattered the most.