Hanif Mohammad tribute: When the original Little Master was 'bloody' good

Its more than 19 years but it seems only the other day when I met Hanif Mohammad who succumbed to lung cancer in Karachi yesterdayHanif Mohammad walks out to open Pakistans innings against Indian Gymkhana in London on the 1954 tour of England PicGetty ImagesWe 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 Contractors India in the opening Test of the 196061 seriesI 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 bloodSome pain was felt in the opposition camp too Contractor told midday yesterday that the innings of 160 was terribly painful Was it because the original Little Master used up 380 minutesHanif MohammadNo it was because we just couldnt 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 saidFormer Test batsman Madhav Apte remembered Hanif as a very sound batsman whose main asset was defence He displayed tremendous concentration and played strokes as wellHanif got a hundred off Ramakant Desai in the Bombay Test of 196061 series but Ramakant troubled him after that said Apte of Desai who dismissed Hanif four times in five drawn TestsContractor remembersContractor Indias captain in that series recalled Ramakant bowled well We tried to get Hanif with the short ball but probably the ball didnt 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 saidBoth opening batsmen met only once after the 196061 series Hanif was a keen follower of Indian cricket In our 1997 interaction he was disappointed that VVS Laxman a middleorder batsman was asked to open the innings on the West Indies tourBalanced viewsHanif offered a balanced view on oneday 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 selfHe spoke about the 1997 India vs West Indies Test at Bridgetown where India were bowled out for 81 chasing a 120run 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 saidIncredibly 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 12yearold grandson had passed away due to brain tumorFought hardAnd while he fought a good fight he stayed modest about his cricketing achievements People say that I am the original Little Master but I dont 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 its up to people to judge who was the best he said Hanif has earned his rest