Legendary Pakistan Cricketers – Part 4 – Hanif Mohammad - The Little Master
Known as the Little Master, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hanif-Mohammad-c61403 was the greatest in the long chain of Mohammad Brothers who went on to represent Pakistan on the International arena.
The legendary cricketer was born on December 21, 1934 in Junagadh, British India. His family migrated to Pakistan after partition of the British India and he played for the same country. The right-handed batsman is regarded by all and sundry as the finest
batter in the history of International cricket.
He is the 3rd of the five Mohammad Brothers who went on to represent the country as cricketers. All of the five brothers - Wazir, Raees, Hanif, Mushtaq and Sadiq were ordained not only to play first-class cricket but to set a remarkable number of records
in International cricket.
Hanif made his International debut on October 16, 1952 with a Test match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 and went on to score a half century in his maiden appearance. In all he played a total of 55 Tests for Pakistan compiling 3915 runs
at an average of 43.98 including 12 hundreds and 15 half centuries.
All through his career, the Little Master kept entertaining cricket fans and his team with the finest exhibition of batting technique. He is the first ever Pakistani cricketer to notch up a triple century.
He holds the record of playing the longest innings in the history of Test cricket, a 970-minute stay at the crease against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 at Bridgetown in 1957-58. He scored a painstaking 337 runs during that record stay at the crease.
In 1958/59, he eclipsed the all time cricketing great, Sir Don Bradman's record for the highest individual first-class innings with 499 runs innings. The veteran missed out at his much deserved five hundred when he was run out while attempting the final
score of his fifth ton. The record remained for more than 35 years before the prolific Caribbean batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brian-Charles-Lara-c48471 surpassed it in 1994 with an unbeaten 501.
He is famous for his ability to adjust his game according to the playing conditions, home and away. Usually the subcontinent batsmen are infamous for playing in the cricketing conditions alien to them. But the batting master, while batting at the top of
the order, overcame those problems and led his side from the front at many occasions.
Hanif, who was known for his batting technique and concentration, was named as the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1968. The following year, the legendary Pakistan batsman decided to bid farewell to International cricket. His last Test appearance was against
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 at the National Stadium in Karachi from October 24 to 27, 1969.
Hanif was famous for playing defensive cricket and never hitting the ball in the air but he could attack as well. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of reverse sweep shot. He also kept wickets for Pakistan at various occasions and had a unique ability
to bowl off-spin with either arm.
He had the technique to counter quality bowling attacks in difficult bowling conditions outside http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. The legendary Test batsman had scored centuries in all the touring countries he had played in during his 17-year-long cricketing career.
His son, Shoaib also represented Pakistan in 45 Tests and 63 One Day Internationals.
Tags: