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Roger Binny: 10 interesting things to know about India’s 1983 World Cup hero

Roger Michael Humphrey Binny, born July 19, 1955, is a former all-rounder who played 27 Tests and 72 ODIs for India in the 1980s.

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Roger Michael Humphrey Binny, born July 19, 1955, is a former all-rounder who played 27 Tests and 72 ODIs for India in the 1980s. On his 62nd birthday, Shiamak Unwalla looks at 10 interesting things to know about one of the architects of India’s 1983 World Cup campaign.

1. Sporting childhood: A natural athlete, Binny excelled at multiple sports in his youth; he once held the national record for boys javelin throw, and also represented his school in football and hockey.

2. Making a mark: A natural athlete, Binny’s interest lied in in cricket. He was 20 when he made his First-Class debut against Kerala. It was only in the next season that he made a mark. In the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Maharashtra at home, Binny opened the batting, slamming 71, and after Karnataka posted 465, he dismissed the first 4 batsmen to finish with 4 for 108. Karnataka secured an important first-innings lead. In the next season (1977-78), Binny slammed 563 runs at 62.55.

3.  A pioneer: Binny has the distinction of being the first Anglo-Indian to play Test cricket for India. He achieved the feat when he made his Test debut against Pakistan at his hometown of Bangalore in 1979.

4. World Cup hero: India’s victorious 1983 World Cup campaign could be attributed to the number of all-rounders in the side. Kapil Dev led from the front, but the likes of Binny, Madan Lal, and Mohinder Amarnath made invaluable contributions throughout. Though he did not do much with the bat, Binny was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 18 wickets at 18.67, and a strike-rate of 29.3. His spell of four for 29 against Australia helped India reach the semi-final, and he took the all-important wicket of Clive Lloyd in the final.

5.  A genuine all-rounder: His international record might not suggest it, but Binny was a terrific all-rounder in his own right. He was an excellent batsman, often opening for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy, and bowling tirelessly in unhelpful conditions at home. He was also a fantastic fielder.

In the 27 Tests he played, he took 47 wickets at 32.63 and scored 830 runs at 23.05. In 72 ODIs, he scored 629 runs at 16.12 and took 77 wickets at 29.35. His First-Class batting average of 34.08 suggests his obvious talent, though his bowling suffered a bit playing in unresponsive decks.

6.  Karnataka stalwart: One of Karnataka’s key players from 1975-76 to 1989-90, Binny often opened batting for his state. His highest First-Class score of 211 not out came early in his career. The innings came when he opened batting with Sanjay Desai against Kerala; the duo put on 451 in an unbroken stand as Karnataka declared without losing a wicket.

That was just one of Binny’s numerous starring roles for Karnataka. In all he played 71 First-Class matches for Karnataka, scoring 4,394 runs at 43.50 with 12 centuries and 21 fifties. He also took 112 wickets at 32.75 with three fifers and best figures of eight for 22.

7.  Coaching credentials: Binny was the coach of India’s successful Under-19 World Cup-winning side of 2000, helping the likes of Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh shine. He was later named coach of Bengal in Ranji Trophy, and later on became the part of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

8.  National selector: In 2012 Binny became a national selector.

9.  Stuart’s selection: Roger’s son Stuart was selected for national duty while Roger was one of the selectors. Reports of nepotism came along with the selection, but Roger maintains that every time the decision for whether or not to pick Stuart is to be made, he leaves the room and lets his fellow selectors decide. To his credit, Stuart is one of the few pace-bowling all-rounders in Indian cricket at present, and he has done reasonably well in his short career: in 14 ODIs he has scored 230 runs at 28.75 and a strike- rate of 93.49. With the ball, he has taken 20 wickets at 21.95 and a strike rate of 24.5. He currently holds the record of best bowling figures in ODIs by an Indian: 6 for 4 against Bangladesh in 2014.

10.  Like father like son: Much like Roger, his son Stuart too is a right-handed pace-bowling all-rounder. Even Stuart requires some assistance from the pitch in order to be truly effective, and while Roger was proficient at the top of the order, Stuart is more of a middle and lower-middle order batsman. However, Stuart’s First-Class and ODI records with both bat and ball are slightly better than those of his father.

Co-incidentally, of the five occasions in ODIs when Indian pacers have taken all 10 wickets in an innings, there has been a Binny involved on three occasions. Roger (four for 29), along with Madan Lal (four for 20), and Balwinder Sandhu (two for 26) first achieved the feat against Australia in the 1983 World Cup. In the final of the same tournament, Mohinder Amarnath (three for 12), Madan Lal (three for 31), Sandhu (two for 32), Kapil Dev (one for 21), and Binny (one for 23) took all 10 against West Indies. Most recently, Stuart (six for four) and Mohit Sharma (four for 22) routed Bangladesh for 58 in 2014.

(Shiamak Unwalla is a proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)

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