Stuart Binny announces retirement from first class and International cricket
New Delhi(PTI): India all-rounder Stuart Binny, who owns the record of the best bowling figures in ODI format, on Monday announced his retirement from first class and international cricket.
The 37-year-old Binny began his career with his state Karnataka and represented India in six Tests, 14 ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals.
"I would like to inform you that I have decided to retire from first class and international cricket," Binny, whose father Roger also represented India, said in a statement.
"It has given me tremendous joy and pride to have represented my country at the highest international level."
While he did not get many international runs under his belt, Binny returned exceptional bowling figures against Bangladesh when he took six wickets for just four runs in an ODI in June 2014 in Dhaka.
It remains the best bowling performance in the ODIs till date. He had bettered the record of his compatriot Anil Kumble, who had also taken a six-wicket haul against the West Indies in 1993 but had conceded 12 runs.
A handy all-rounder, with experience of 95 first class matches, iconic skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried him out in a few Tests with reasonable success.
In his debut Test against England in July 2014, he scored 78 in his second innings and that remained his only fifty in his six Tests.
A 31-run over in a T20 game against the West Indies in Florida effectively ended his international career where Evin Lewis hit him for five sixes. He was viciously trolled.
Once the conflict of interest became a catch phrase in Indian cricket, his father Roger was forced to relinquish his selection committee post.
With advent of Hardik Pandya as an explosive batting all rounder, Binny's chances of national comeback dwindled and he played a season of first class cricket in the North East.
He will be remembered as a player who punched above his weight and did his best as per his abilities.
Binny thanked the BCCI, his various teams, fellow players and coaches for the role played in his growth as a cricketer.
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Excise scam: Delhi court discharges former CM Kejriwal, Sisodia, K Kavitha and 20 others
New Delhi (PTI): In a massive relief to the AAP's top leadership, a Delhi court on Friday discharged former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his ex-deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the politically charged liquor policy case by refusing to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet against them.
Among the 21 people given a clean chit in the case is Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh rapped the CBI for lapses in the investigation, saying that there was no cogent evidence against Kejriwal and there was no prima facie case against Sisodia and the other accused.
The CBI has been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the erstwhile AAP government's now-scrapped excise policy.
ALSO READ: Delhi court discharges Kejriwal, Sisodia in excise corruption case, rejects CBI chargesheet
Underscoring "some misleading averments", the judge said in his strongly worded statement that the voluminous chargesheet had several lacunas not corroborated by evidence or witnesses.
"... The chargesheet suffers from internal contradictions, striking at the root of conspiracy theory," he said.
He said that in the absence of any evidence, the allegations against Kejriwal could not be sustained and that the former chief minister was implicated without any cogent evidence.
This, the judge said, was inconsistent with the rule of law.
Regarding Sisodia, the judge said there was no material on record showing his involvement, nor was any recovery made from him.
The court underlined its finding of the absence of an overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the excise policy while observing that the federal agency's case did not withstand judicial scrutiny, especially when the CBI sought to construct a narrative of conspiracy onmere conjecture.
It also rapped the agency for building its case through approver statements.
"If such conduct is allowed, it would be a grave violation of the Constitutional principles. The conduct where an accused is granted pardon and then made an approver, his statements used to fill the gaps in the investigation/narrative and make additional people accused is wrong," the court said.
The other accused discharged are Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Goutam, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu Gornatla, Rakesh Joshi, Damodar Prasad Sharma, Prince Kumar, Chanpreet Singh Rayat, Arvind Kumar Singh, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Mathur, and P Sarath Chadra Reddy.
