He was a part of the victorious U-19 World Cup squad in 2000 which had the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif who had made their international debut within a few months, but it took close to 13 years for Stuart Binny to break into the Indian team when he is nearing 30.
Ironically, he replaced Yuvraj Singh in the New Zealand-bound ODI squad but the 29-year-old Karnataka all-rounder feels that the call came at the right time.
"I think if I would have got a call back then, I wasn't ready for international cricket back then. But now after some consistent performances in the domestic circuit, I feel more confident about playing international cricket," Binny told reporters after having played a game-changing knock of 88 against Delhi at Feroze Shah Kotla here today.
With his father and former India all-rounder Roger Binny being a part of the national selection committee, Binny junior knows that his performance will be under scrutiny even more.
"Well, I can't say anything about that. When I got out there in the field, I only concentrate on my performance and nothing else. As far as my father is concerned, he is my first and only coach till date. Whatever I have learnt till date is from him as I picked up the game at his academy. People find our actions similar as he was the one who taught me how to swing the ball," Binny said asked about his father Roger's role in his career.
His first senior team tour is of New Zealand but Binny shared that his first junior international trip was also to New Zealand.
"When I made my India U-19 debut, the first tour we had was of New Zealand back then. It's funny that my frst trip with senior team is also to same country.
