Cricket's original Little Master, who passed away yesterday, took great pride in his 160 vs India at Brabourne where he played with bleeding toes in 1960
Hanif Mohammad walks out to open Pakistan's innings against Indian Gymkhana in London on the 1954 tour of England. Pic/Getty Images
It's more than 19 years, but it seems only the other day when I met Hanif Mohammad, who succumbed to lung cancer in Karachi yesterday.
Hanif Mohammad walks out to open Pakistan's innings against Indian Gymkhana in London on the 1954 tour of England. Pic/Getty Images
We met at the Cricket Club of India on April 4, 1997. He was 63 and felt special residing in a room overlooking the ground on which he scored 160 against Nari Contractor's India in the opening Test of the 1960-61 series.
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"I remember that innings very well," he said. "My toe nails had been removed and skipper Fazal Mahmood asked me to play despite my injury. I was ready but by the time I got the hundred, my socks were stained with blood."
Some pain was felt in the opposition camp too. Contractor told mid-day yesterday that the innings of 160 was "terribly painful." Was it because the original Little Master used up 380 minutes?
Hanif Mohammad
"No, it was because we just couldn't get him. It was such a fluent and good innings, but he played so many great innings including the world record 337 against the West Indies in 1958. When we talk about great Pakistani batsmen, Hanif heads the list. Then came all their other great batsmen," Contractor said.
Former Test batsman Madhav Apte remembered Hanif as, "a very sound batsman whose main asset was defence. He displayed tremendous concentration and played strokes as well.
"Hanif got a hundred off Ramakant Desai in the Bombay Test of 1960-61 series, but Ramakant troubled him after that," said Apte of Desai, who dismissed Hanif four times in five drawn Tests.
Contractor remembers
Contractor, India's captain in that series, recalled: "Ramakant bowled well. We tried to get Hanif with the short ball, but probably the ball didn't come at a height the bowler or we expected. Sometimes, the ball would go over his head and remember, Hanif faced many fast bowlers," Contractor said.
Both opening batsmen met only once after the 1960-61 series. Hanif was a keen follower of Indian cricket. In our 1997 interaction, he was disappointed that VVS Laxman, a middle-order batsman, was asked to open the innings on the West Indies tour.
Balanced views
Hanif offered a balanced view on one-day cricket: "Limited overs cricket is having an adverse effect on Test cricket," he remarked, only to add, "but international cricketers are professionals and are expected to adapt. Frankly, I would have no problems doing that had I been playing now. You have to discipline yourself, keep fighting with your inner self."
He spoke about the 1997 India vs West Indies Test at Bridgetown, where India were bowled out for 81, chasing a 120-run target. "The Kensington Oval pitch must have been very bad. Why, even the West Indies did not get too many runs in their second innings. But concentration and application is the key here. If a batsman knows that his team needs runs, he has to stay there and if one occupies the crease, runs will come," he said.
Incredibly, his landmark innings of 337 against West Indies at the same venue was achieved after Pakistan were forced to follow on. We kept in touch over the phone. I called him on his 79th birthday in 2013. He said he believed he had conquered cancer, but there would be no birthday celebrations since his 12-year-old grandson had passed away due to brain tumor.
Fought hard
And while he fought a good fight, he stayed modest about his cricketing achievements. "People say that I am the original Little Master, but I don't want to be No 1 anyway. Sachin Tendulkar has done so much for cricket and Sunil Gavaskar was my favourite too. It is good that they are called Little Masters and it's up to people to judge who was the best," he said. Hanif has earned his rest.
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