Hanif Mohammad
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Hanif Mohammad PP ( ur, , 21 December 1934 – 11 August 2016) was a Pakistani
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er. He played for the
Pakistani cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...
in 55 Test matches between the 1952–53 season and the 1969–70 season. He
averaged In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...
43.98 scoring twelve centuries. At his peak, he was considered one of the best batsmen in the world despite playing at a time when Pakistan played very little Test cricket; Hanif played just 55 Test matches in a career spanning 17 years. In his obituary by
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, he was honoured as the original Little Master, a title later assumed by
Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...
and
Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...
. He was the first Pakistani to score a triple hundred in a Test match.


Life and career

Hanif was trained by Abdul Aziz, an Afghan cricket player, who had earlier played in
Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...
for
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and father of Indian cricketer,
Salim Durani Salim Aziz Durani (born 11 December 1934) is a former Indian cricketer who played in 29 Test matches from 1960 to 1973. An all-rounder, Durani was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and a left-handed batsman famous for his six-hitting prowess. He ...
. He made his first-class debut playing for Pakistan against the MCC in November 1951. He made 26 in 165 minutes. His Test debut was in Pakistan's first ever Test match against India in October 1952, where he was the top scorer of Pakistan's first innings. The highest of Hanif's Test centuries was a famous 337 made against
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
in a six-day test at
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in 1957/58. It is still the highest score by a player in away Tests. After Pakistan found itself 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 First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
for over 40 years). It was the only Test match instance of a triple century in a team's second innings until it was equaled by New Zealand cricketer
Brendon McCullum Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer representing New Zealand, who played all formats, including as captain. McCullum was renowned for his quick scoring, notably recording the f ...
against India in 2014. Displays such as this earned him the nickname "Little Master". Hanif Mohammad also has the world record for scoring the slowest test triple century in terms of minutes (858) and the only player in test history to have spent over 970 minutes to score a test triple ton. In 1958–59, he surpassed
Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...
's record for the highest individual first-class innings. Hanif made 499 for
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
in a match against
Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...
before being run out attempting his five hundredth run; this stood for more than 35 years before being passed by
Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing reco ...
in 1994. It was the first instance of a triple and quadruple century being scored in the
Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition in Pakistan. With few exceptions, it has been staged annually since it was first played during the 1953–54 season. Domestic cricket in Pakistan has undergone many reorganis ...
. In all he made 55 first-class centuries and finished with a strong first-class career average of 52.32. He could bowl with either arm, and kept wicket on a number of occasions. He is known to have played the slowest test innings when he scored 20 off 223 balls at a strike rate of 8.97. Hanif's career lasted until 1975–76, but he never played in the
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, although he did have an outing for the
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Second XI in August 1965 whilst preparing for his appearance for a Rest of the World XI against
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at the
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Festival a few days later. Hanif was named as a
Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
in 1968 and in January 2009 he was named along with two other Pakistani players,
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
and
Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (Urdu: ; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (Urdu: ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo desc ...
, among the inaugural batch of 55 inductees into the ICC's Hall of Fame. In one Test match against Australia, Hanif scored a century in the first innings. In the second, he was given out stumped by Barry Jarman off the bowling of
Tom Veivers Thomas Robert Veivers (born 6 April 1937) is an Australian former cricketer, teacher, politician and public administrator who played in 21 cricket Test matches between 1963 and 1967. He is the great-uncle of Jack Wildermuth. Cricket career ...
for 93. Hanif respected the umpire's decision. Later in a press conference Jarman admitted that Hanif was not out. In 1972, after retiring from international cricket, Hanif co-founded the magazine ''The Cricketer Pakistan''. He edited this magazine for two decades. He also served as the team manager for
Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. It ...
(PIA).


Batting performance


Family members

Many other members of Hanif's family were also cricketers: his brothers
Mushtaq Mushthak () may refer to: Given name * Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer * Mushtaq Ali, Indian cricketer * Mushtaq Gazdar, Pakistani cinematographer * Mushtaq Kak, Indian actor * Mushtaq Leghari, Pakistani air marshal * Mushtaq Minhas, Pakistani ...
,
Sadiq Sadiq is a male name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Ja'far al-Sadiq, the 8th-century Muslim scholar and scientist, considered as an Imam and founder of the Ja'fari school of jurisprudence by Twelver and Isma'ili Shi’as, and a major fi ...
and Wazir all played Tests for Pakistan, as did his son Shoaib. Another brother Raees was once twelfth man for Pakistan, and four nephews had first-class careers. His mother Ameer Bee was a national badminton champion in pre-independence British India.


Death

Hanif Mohammad was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013. He had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer in
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
's Aga Khan Hospital. He died on 11 August 2016 at age 81.


Tribute, awards and recognition

In 2018, a
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was created to celebrate his 84th Birthday. Hanif's triple-century against the West Indies team in 1957/58 made him a legend in the cricketing world. He was one of the original inductees into the
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Fed ...
. *
Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...
Award in 1959 by the
Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...
Pride of Performance Award in 1959 for Hanif Mohammad on Pakistan Sports Board website
Retrieved 21 June 2019


References


External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammad, Hanif 1934 births 2016 deaths People from Junagadh Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Karachi cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani cricketers Cricketers from Karachi Bahawalpur cricketers South Zone (Pakistan) cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Karachi A cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Pakistan International Airlines A cricketers