Hanif Mohammad, the man who played the longest innings in Test cricket (970 minutes), and fought a long battle with lung cancer, passed away at the Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi last week. He was 81. The original `Little Master', like he always did with the bat in hand, refused to leave the crease at his hospital bed despite being put on the ventilator.
In what was later described by the Pakistan media as `miraculous', Hanif's son, Shoaib Mohammad first announced from the hospital on last Thursday afternoon that his father was no more. Minutes after Shoaib had made the announcement and tributes began pouring in, news came in that Hanif was very much alive. “His heartbeat had stopped for six minutes, but the doctors managed to revive his heartbeat back,” Shoaib said in a revised statement.
An hour later tragedy struck the family once again and this time for real. Hanif had breathed his last at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit. Indian legends, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar were fans of Hanif who himself had repeatedly said he admired their batting and never missed their matches.
Born in Junagadh, India, Hanif belonged to an illustrious sporting family with his brothers, Wazir, Mushtaq and Sadiq also representing Pakistan with distinction in Test cricket while his son Shoaib also played 45 tests and 63 ODIs for Pakistan.
Former India cricketer and Hanif's contemporary Chandu Borde said the Pakistani batsman was among the best of his time. “In 1961, he had come here with the Pakistan team. His 160 at the Brabourne is one of the most remarkable Test innings that I've ever seen,” Borde said.
Hanif 's short physical stature had left the Indian team surprised, particularly because of the way he had dominated the bowlers world over. “He was unlike the other batting greats of his time and batsmen that short in stature were yet to capture imagination (like Sunil Gavaskar managed to do). But there were no doubts whatsoever about his genius,” said Borde of the Pak batsman who was a year younger to him.
Hanif was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013 after which he went to London for surgery and returned home well. However, his son Shoaib said the cancer had spread with time. Hanif was a member of Pakistan's first touring squad that toured India in 1954-55 and visited again in 1960-61. He went on to play 55 Tests, one of which included the memorable 337 against West Indies in 1957-58. It remains the longest innings in Test history and was also the longest in all First Class cricket for over 40 years before Himachal Pradesh batsman Rajiv Nayyar broke the record in 1999 by batting for 1,015 minutes for his 271 against J&K in a Ranji Trophy match.
