Hanif Mohammad: The man who built the foundations of Pakistan cricket and built its wall

 

Hanif Mohammad: The man who built the foundations of Pakistan cricket and built its walls

He was Pakistan's first great batsman and a player gifted with remarkable powers of concentration

Hanif was just 16 years old when he walked out to bat in the first unofficial Test between Pakistan and MCC in Lahore in November 1951. It was his first-class debut and a match of immense significance for his country. He stood 5ft 3in and weighed barely nine stone. "He looked 12," Brian Statham said. But as the day wore on, the sympathy faded: Hanif made 26 in 165 minutes. “We never looked like moving him.

The MCC attack was the first to experience what bowlers around the world would discover over the next two decades: bowling for Hanif was the most rewarding job in cricket. In the next game, he batted for over four hours for 64 as Pakistan chased down 288. It was an innings of incalculable value: they were granted Test status eight months later.

. With Abdul Hafeez Kardar as the captain and Fazal Mahmood as the strike bowler, he was part of a formidable triumvirate that carried the hopes of the emerging nation.

 Despite his stature, Hanif carried the responsibility – time after time building monumental innings of concentration, courage and exemplary defence. "He lacks a sense of cricket as a sport, let alone entertainment," wrote Peter Oborne in Wounded Tiger, a history of Pakistan cricket.

 "For Hanif, it was a serious duty, even a calling, the basic purpose of which was to ensure that his country was not defeated."

There was no better example than his 337 in 16 hours ten minutes - Hanif was convinced it was 16 hours 39 (or 999 minutes) - against the West Indies in Barbados in 1957/58.

Pakistan seemed destined for a crushing defeat as they were bowled out for 473, with over three days of six remaining. Hanif reached stumps on 61 when he survived a flurry of bouncers from Roy Gilchrist when he decided not to hook after being advised by Clyde Walcott. He added exactly 100 on the fourth day - with Pakistan losing only one wicket - and began to relish the possibility of a draw.

 In his hotel room, Hanif found motivational messages from Kardar: "You are the only hope to save Pakistan."

By the fifth, he was braving the pain of Gilchrist's bruised thighs and the sunburn that was causing the skin under his eyes to peel. During breaks, he sat in the corner of the locker room and ate a piece of chicken.

 270 by stumps and Pakistan had a small lead. That night he allowed himself to fantasize about Len Hutton's Test record of 364 and, after tuning into Radio Pakistan, realized the effect it was having on the domestic environment.

. On a deteriorating pitch on the final day, he was within 28 of overtaking Hutton when he edged Denis Atkinson and wicketkeeper Gerry Alexander. It was then the longest first-class innings and remains the longest in Tests. He slept all night in his suite.

Hanif was the most famous member of perhaps the most remarkable family in the history of cricket.

 He was the third of five brothers, three of whom - Wazir, Mushtaq and Sadiq - also became Test players, while the other, Raees, was once Pakistan's twelfth man. Hanif, Mushtaq and Sadiq played against New Zealand in Karachi in 1969/70 - Hanif's final Test - emulating W.G., E.M. and G.F. Grace, for England against Australia in 1880.

At least one of the brothers played in Pakistan's first 89 Tests and Hanif's son Shoaib later played in 45 Tests

Hanif was born in Junagadh in the Indian state of Gujarat, where the family lived an opulent lifestyle with space for matches where he would often bat all day. They played with a tennis ball shaved on one side for an amazing swing or a cork ball that flew off the concrete patio. Techniques were perfected, reflexes honed. Batsmen were given away for shots that bounced off the trees and he quickly learned to keep the ball on the ground.

After Partition in 1947, his extended family left their property and traveled to Karachi, where high rents forced them to live in an abandoned Hindu temple. "We lost everything," Hanif said. His father, a good club cricketer, died early, but their mother Ameerbi, an accomplished badminton and carrom player, urged the boys to excel in sports.

Hanif's potential was quickly identified and he moved schools to work with Abdul Aziz Durani, who advised him to focus on cricket and spend hours in one-on-one sessions. Durani threw golf balls to teach him how to swing and cut, and he called matches so that he could hit as long as possible.

A triple century in an important school final earned him his first extensive newspaper coverage. And when he played for Sind and Karachi Muslims against an experienced North Muslims side, including Fazal, on a checkered wicket at the Karachi Gymkhana, he made 158 in almost eight hours and admitted: "I surprised myself." He was rewarded with a bicycle from an admiring businessman.

Alf Gover immediately compared Hanif to Don Bradman: "Everything is already perfect"

In 1952, Hanif toured England for the first time with the Pakistan Eaglets, an initiative aimed at exposing the country's emerging talent to English conditions. At his boarding school in south London, Alf Gover immediately compared Hanif to Don Bradman: “Everything is already perfect. Against Devon in Torquay, Hanif was bowled in the first over by a ball that swung in the sea breeze. When his roommate Sultan Mahmud returned from a party after midnight, he found Hanif, still dressed, rehearsing the stroke he was supposed to play in front of a mirror.

During Pakistan's first Test tour of India in 1952/53, Hanif started with a hundred in every innings against the North Zone. In the Tests - where he also kept wicket in the first three games - he made 287 runs at nearly 36, including a six-run 96 in the third in Mumbai. He was given the nickname Little Master, which stuck. In 1954, Pakistan sailed to England, then the most powerful team in the world. It has been a dismal summer and in the rain-ravaged opener at Lord's, Hanif - without wicketkeeping duties - batted for a total of 340 minutes in 59 overs. Pakistan lost the second Test by an innings, and when they were again dismissed cheaply in a drawn third at Old Trafford, some influential voices suggested their promotion to Test status was hasty. Kardar's team responded by squaring the series at The Oval with a nerve-wracking 24-run victory, sealed by Hanif's direct hit that dismissed Jim McConnon.

Wazir led the tour's averages, but 19-year-old Hanif - who had since grown three inches - top-scored with 1,623 for 36. His ways became familiar: he would spin the bat between balls, adjust his jumper and pull on his cap. He didn't move forward or back, relying on his eye to estimate the length. "Purely defensive at first," said Wisden, "he later blossomed into a most attractive opening batsman, producing magnificent all-round strokes with a power that his diminutive frame belied."