There’s no point getting upset to criticism: Stuart Binny

Stuart Binny‘s life as a cricketer has been a dual sided affair. He is stalwart for his domestic side Karnataka and can arguably be counted among one of the most prominent seam bowling all-rounders in India. But, unfortunately, he has failed to perform and create the same impact when representing the national team. This repeated failure has overshadowed his reputation and not many acknowledge him as a worthy cricketer. He gets mocked in the social media space. Appreciation has been very rare. A few erratic ones also target his wife Mayanti Langer.

Everything the man does since his debut in January 2014, incidentally against New Zealand is looked upon with skepticism. There was precious little even when he scored 98 to keep his team, India Red, alive against India Blue in the Duleep Trophy recently. His team may have lost but Binny fought hard and tried to do his best. He was dropped from the Test squad the same day.

“It (that innings) was difficult, especially with the news coming in that I was left out of the Test team,” Binny said. “I think it was about me proving to some people that being left out isn’t the end of the road for me. It was a battle where I had to put my foot down, head down, and prove myself.

“I heard the news when I walked in,” he added. “It wasn’t a morning game anyway. So we got the news after the selection meeting at 1 pm. I still don’t think the innings was connected to me being dropped. It fell in place that day when I scored 98. Even then, people had mixed opinions on how I batted. It doesn’t matter now. To me, what matters is that I do my part take wickets and look to score runs.”

Over the years, both captains MS Dhoni (limited-overs) and Virat Kohli (Tests) have shown faith in the all-rounder, and also has Binny has lived up to the responsibility to a great extent.

“I have gone through it (criticism) ever since I began playing,” he said, referring to the way people respond to his place in the Indian team. “There are people that come and tell you this happened. I don’t throw a fit. There’s no point getting upset. I know how I can contribute to Karnataka and Indian cricket team. That’s for me to decide.”

Binny likes to stay away from it all and just wants to let his game do the talking. He cites the knock of 98 in tense conditions to back his claim of being a team player. “I didn’t play my regular game in the first hour when the score was 67 for 4,” he said.

“I played 52 balls and scored just 10 runs. I don’t tend to do that normally. At that time, it was needed because the team was struggling and we (along with Gurkeerat) had to stitch a partnership.

“Then I moved into my game when the spinners came in. “But even then, there were mixed opinions about the initial play.”