LAHORE: Former Pakistan skipper and legendary batsman, Hanif Mohammad, celebrated his 76th birthday on Tuesday. The ‘Little Master’ was delighted on this occasion and stated that although there were not enough facilities available at his time, the players were eager to play for the pride of their country.
Hanif was one of the cricketers who laid the foundation of cricket in Pakistan. He joined the Pakistan team as a wicket keeper in the 1952 tour of India and impressed everyone with his performances. Hanif is one of the four Pakistani cricketers who have been included in the ICC Hall of Fame. “We always wanted to play for our country despite only getting fees of Rs15 per day,” he was quoted as saying by a website. The ‘Little Master’ set a World Record of scoring most runs in an innings when he smashed 499 runs in a First class cricket match at the KBI Ground Karachi. His record was later broken by West Indian legendary batsman Brian Charles Lara. Hanif still holds the World Record of batting for 970 minutes against West Indies in an innings where he notched 337 runs.
Hanif believes that Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman of the modern era. “Sachin is a greater batsman than Brian Lara. Although Lara twice broke the world record, Sachin is a more complete batsman. He has all the shots in his armory.”
He congratulated Sachin on scoring his 50th test hundred and stated “it’s a big achievement for Sachin. Sachin will score another 10 Test hundreds before his retirement and he knows how to score centuries. In my opinion, he always scores hundreds at his will and no bowler can stop him. I think no one can break his record in another 50 years.” Hanif is positive about Pakistan cricket team’s chances in its tour of New Zealand. “Pakistan cricket team can win in New Zealand but we shouldn’t expect more from Pakistan team in the World Cup.”
