#Rewind360 - When Binny Sr. made Headingley his own

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  • Binny's military medium wreaked havoc (File Photo)

    When Stuart Binny grabbed remarkable figures of 6/4 in a rain-affected ODI against Bangladesh in 2014, it was the first time the name ‘Binny’ had appeared on a list of great bowling performances for India in almost thirty years.

    Bangladesh batsmen were sent scurrying back to the pavilion as wet conditions transformed this lamb of a medium-pacer into a ferocious, seaming, swinging tiger of unbelievable violence – bunny teeth baring and flashing,

    As historic as the spell was, it came in curiously inglorious circumstances. This, unfortunately, is the only way to describe a nondescript one-day series played in a deserted stadium in Bangladesh in the month of June. If sport’s most priceless commodity is glory, and the weight of achievement is measured in the same, then an asterisk will forever exist next to the entry “STR Binny 4.4-2-4-6” in the record books.

    Twenty-eight years before him, however, Stuart’s father Roger Binny registered a bowling performance that had glory in extravagant quantities. It was at Headingley, Leeds, and it came during the second Test of India’s memorable 0-2 series win in England in 1986.

    Captain Kapil Dev is often mentioned in the same breath as that victory, but it was another all-rounder with a far more modest profile who rocked the hosts with a spell of 5-40 in their first innings.

    As the elder Binny turns 61, we revisit the time he took seven wickets in a Test match that sent the Indians wild with joy and had the opposing Englishman hopping like rabbits.

    BACKGROUND

    England’s form heading into the series was mixed. The hosts had wrestled The Ashes from the grip of their foes from Down Under the previous year and had even claimed the last series between the sides 1-2 in India, also in 1985.

    However, they had also suffered two 5-0 whitewashes at the hands of the legendary West Indies side of the day, home and away, entering the series against India following the second of those hammerings in the Caribbean. A solitary Test against the visiting Sri Lankans in 1984 was drawn, while England had been beaten on visits to Pakistan and New Zealand (both in early 1984), though they had defeated the latter side in a home series in 1983.

    India’s form, though, had been poor. In the preceding six years, since a 2-0 defeat of Pakistan in 1979-80, India had won just one of twelve Test series – a 1-0 success over England in 1981-82. They, too, had been beaten home and away by the West Indies, though, unlike England, neither defeat had been a whitewash.

    The captaincy had changed hands from Sunil Gavaskar to Kapil in that time, and India had also been beaten 1-0 by Sri Lanka, still a way off from being recognised as among the best in the world, in 1985. The unexpected World Cup win in 1983 was looking increasingly misleading of the side’s quality as the years slipped by. India certainly didn’t have the air of world champions when the first Test began at Lord’s on 5 June.

    But this is where it all changed. The scene of their greatest triumph three years previously, Lord’s seemed to evoke the memories and rekindle the spirit in the Indian team that had seen them win that World Cup final against the West Indies. Kapil and Dilip Vengsarkar led the charge, and India’s victory by five wickets was their first ever win at the famous ground, and only their second ever on English soil.

    So it was a newly resurgent India that took to the field in Leeds on 19 June 1986 – the first day of the second Test at Headingley.

    The conditions, it seemed, were perfect for an exciting Test match. India led the series 0-1. England were missing the dangerous pair of David Gower, through injury, and Ian Botham, through suspension. The pitch was in volatile mood and worsening with each delivery.  The visitors gained a significant advantage when they won the toss and took first strike.

    VENGSARKAR DIGS IN

    Dilip Vengsarkar in action (File Photo)

    Dilip Vengsarkar in action (File Photo).

    Headingley, with its typically grey and grim Northern skies and conditions that aided swing and seam immeasurably, would be the last place one would expect India to score a huge win. Indeed, had the toss not gone their way, one wonders if India would have been able to cope with batting last on a wearing pitch, or if England were not missing key players.

    After 20 overs, India were 64-1, Gavaskar (35) and Kris Srikkanth (31) having attacked the creaking John Lever, restored to the side at age 37, with particular disdain.  Thereafter, though, it was more grit than grace as Vengsarkar scored a 153-ball 61 – the first of two critical scores in the game. Some determined batting by Madan Lal (20) and Kiran More (36 not out; while batting at number 10) pushed India from 213-8 to 272 all out.

    BINNY STEPS UP

    Any talk of Binny’s whirlwind bowling that followed is incomplete without at least a mention of Lal. The Amritsar-born seamer, drafted into the side when playing for Ashton of the Central Lancashire League as a replacement for the injured Chetan Sharma, removed both Wilf Slack and Chris Smith in ten runs of each other, paving the way for Binny to optimise ideal conditions and unleash his fury on the batsmen.

    Much like Sanjay Bangar at the same ground sixteen years later, Lal’s contribution was priceless for how he whittled the English down to size, absolutely ripe for the taking. Then Binny stepped forward.

    As an aggressive all-rounder with a knack for turning in match-winning displays with both bat and ball at pleasingly regular intervals, Binny had proved his worth for India in both forms of the game. His contributions were vital – he had taken 18 wickets during India’s successful 1983 World Cup campaign – and as a medium-pacer who could swing the ball both ways, England and Headingley in particular seemed the perfect venue for him.

    Binny's military medium wreaked havoc (File Photo)

    Binny’s military medium wreaked havoc (File Photo).

    And how. The first to go was Mike Gatting. Pitching it on a slightly fuller length and very wide of the stumps, Binny coaxed a rash shot out of the English captain, who was caught behind by More for 13. He looked visibly disgusted with himself.

    Three runs after that came Allan Lamb’s turn. It was the first ball after lunch and Lamb, perhaps energised from the refreshment, slammed the ball hard but waywardly into the offside. Chandrakant Pandit, fielding at point, dived forwards to take a splendid catch.

    It was Binny’s extraordinary gallop to the crease that captured the eye and the imagination. He was all arms and legs, flailing and thrashing, his wrists rolling and flexing as he thundered in yet maintaining a firm grip on the ball, the half-second before his delivery marked by a hard, forceful jump that did not so much bring his left foot onto the ground as stamp on it.

    Derek Pringle followed next, perhaps bamboozled by the staggering energy and beautiful aggression in Binny’s action and the suspiciously tempting delivery that followed it. The ball pitched right in front of Pringle, drawing him into a legside flick. Srikkanth, however, was on hand to take another great catch to reduce England to 63-6. Incredibly, Binny was only half done.

    ROGER BINNY'S BEST PERFORMANCES

    • 6/56 vs Pak, Kolkata '87
    • 5/40 vs Eng, Leeds '86
    • 3/18 vs WI, Ahmedabad '83
    • 3/53 vs Pak, Mumbai '79

    In came the reticent John Emburey. He was out for a first-ball duck that left Binny on a hat-trick, caught at second slip. If you could say of the previous dismissals that they came on account of adroit fielding, you could not say so here; it was Binny’s wicket through and through.

    A magnificent delivery, pitched at a good length and just outside off stump, leapt up and moved away from Emburey. His tentative push forward saw it take the edge and fly into the hands of Kapil. Binny’s four wickets had come in only 37 balls at the cost of 17 runs. There was still one more to go.

    The delivery that got rid of debutant Bruce French was another beauty. Pitched very full, the ball seemed to consciously delay its landing as it drifted towards leg stump. Then, as French turned his bat into the onside, hoping to catch the ball with it, the sphere pitched in front of the batsman’s feet and ripped away towards the left at the last second, smashing into off and middle stump. French had missed it completely, and was gone for 8. It was Binny’s first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

    Some might call Binny’s labour ungainly and unfashionable. A furious action in a memorable spell that described his aggression, rather than his craft. A bowling performance that was a lesson in optimising favourable conditions and in being backed to the hilt by your fielders. But the fact that Binny drew batsmen into poor shots suggests there was far more subtlety in his bowling that met the eye. Knocking over batsmen of your own accord is impressive. Forcing them into knocking themselves over is similarly so.

    EPILOGUE

    India wrapped up a historic 0-2 series win in England

    India wrapped up an historic 2-0 series win in England.

    England were dismissed for 102 in their first innings. The capricious pitch continued to play its tricks as the Indians batted for the second time. Vengsarkar, however, took the game by the scruff of the neck again and slammed an unbeaten century en route to a second innings total of 237. Binny contributed 26.

    England were set a target of 408. On a day three pitch that was, by now, supporting spin as well as bounce, they were never really in it. Maninder Singh wiped out four batsmen by himself, and the match ended on the fourth day with England all out for 128. They lost by a heavy margin of 279 runs. In all, 33,850 fans came to watch the game.

    The third Test at Edgbaston was curtailed by rain and bad light. It was a finely poised encounter, a much more even contest that could have gone either way had it not been prematurely curtailed by rain and bad light. Nevertheless, India wrapped up a series victory – only their second ever series win in England and their first since 1971. Binny finished the series with 12 wickets at an average of 20.91.

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