Former Pakistan captain Hanif Mohammad, the original ‘Little Master’, dies aged

• Hanif dies in Karachi after suffering respiratory problems
• Retains the record for the longest Test innings at 16 hours


The former Pakistan captain Hanif Mohammad has died at the age of 81, having been admitted to a Karachi hospital earlier this week suffering from respiratory problems. He had previously been diagnosed with lung cancer, which he had treatment for in London in 2013.

Dubbed the “Little Master” long before Sachin Tendulkar could lay claim to the tag, Hanif arguably had an even more significant impact on the popularity of cricket in his country. He retains the record for the longest Test innings in term of time – taking just over 16 hours to piece together a game-saving 337 against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957, which is also still the highest score by an Asian batsman outside the subcontinent.


His career began at the top of the order in Pakistan’s first-ever Test, in 1952, and none of his countrymen who have followed him to the crease in the 60 years since would claim to have bettered it.

Hanif was born in Junagadh, India, in 1934, then after Partition he moved as a 13-year-old with his family to Karachi. Four years later he was making his Test debut against the country of his birth. Despite his tender years his guarded technique was relied upon to lay the foundations of Pakistan’s batting as they adapted to life in Test ranks.


It proved the foundations of something even more significant as he ushered Test cricket into the consciousness of Pakistan and then paved the way for its central place in the country’s culture.

His impact earned him the reputation as the father of Pakistani cricket, although it was a family affair – remarkably, at least one of him or his four brothers were selected to play in Pakistan’s first 101 Tests.

Hanif retired after 17 years at the top, having played 55 Tests and scored 12 centuries. He hit centuries away to every Test nation he played, and in 1959 broke the record for the highest first-class score with 499, before being run out. The record stood until Brian Lara’s 501 for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994.

Hanif’s son Shoaib Mohammad also played Test cricket for Pakistan and displayed the same powers of concentration as his father during 45 Tests.

    — Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive)
    August 11, 2016

    Rest In Peace Little Master. The Legendary batsmen Hanif Mohammad will be missed but never forgotten.My Love to Shoaib & family at this time

Dave Richardson, the ICC chief executive, said: “It’s sad to hear of Hanif’s death and I’d like to extend my condolences and those of everyone here at the ICC to Hanif’s family, which counts so many cricketers in its number.

“Hanif took batting to great heights and many batsmen drew inspiration from him. His contribution to the game has been enormous and one can only imagine the kind of impact his batting had on others over the years.

“Hanif’s triple-century against the West Indies was a legendary innings and unsurprisingly he was one of the original inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.”

We had a valve radio that ran on two Berec batteries. Remember them. One battery was very big.

how old is you , 80?

What has age got to do with it? Valve equipment is still in use today, especially audio amps.

  You talking bout radios with vacuum tubes. T his was used in ancient times

I listened on a Murphy ! My Dad was a radio repairman ! 
               

We had weself a Phillips. It needed grounding and an aerial