Legendary cricketer Hanif Mohammad passes away

KARACHI: Former Test cricketer and batting legend Hanif Mohammad breathed his last in a local hospital in Karachi on Thursday. 

Hospital spokesman and his son Shoaib Mohammad have confirmed the death of Hanif Mohammad.

The legendary cricketer, who was dubbed as 'The Little Master', died at the age of 81. Hanif Mohammad was admitted to hospital a week ago and as per the doctors, his condition was critical. He was diagnosed with cancer for the second time. Earlier, he recovered from this treacherous disease, but it had infected him again.

Born on Dec 21, 1934 in Junagarh, Hanif played 55 Test matches for Pakistan between 1952-53 and 1969-70 and averaged a fine 43.98 comprising twelve hundreds. Hanif Mohammad - the original Little Master- was a batsman with yogic powers of concentration. His brothers – Mushtaq Mohammad, Sadiq Mohammad and Wazir Mohammad all figured in Tests for Pakistan and as did his son, Shoaib Mohammad.

At his peak, Hanif was considered one of the best batsmen in the world. Hanif’s marathon knock of 337 that he scored against the West Indies in a Test at Bridgetown in 1957-58, is regarded as one of the epic knocks in the entire cricket history. After Pakistan found themselves following on from a first-innings deficit of 473 runs on the afternoon of the third day, Hanif spent more than sixteen hours at the crease compiling his runs, allowing Pakistan to draw the game.

It remains the longest innings in Test history (and stood as the longest in all first-class cricket for over 40 years). It was the only Test match instance of a triple century in a team’s second innings until it was equalled by New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum against India in 2014. In 1958-59, Hanif surpassed Sir Don Bradman’s record for the highest individual first-class innings.

Hanif made 499 before being run out attempting his five hundredth run. This mark stood for more than 35 years before being surpassed by Brian Lara in 1994. In all Hanif made 55 first-class centuries and finished with a strong career average of 52.32. Hanif was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1968.

In January 2009, Hanif was named along with two other Pakistani players — Imran Khan and Javed Miandad — among the inaugural batch of 55 inductees into the ICC’s Hall of Fame.