Hanif Mohammad’s incredible 16-hour effort to save a Test match for Pakistan

Howzat_1 · June 5, 2014, 4:15am

**It was made 56 years ago, yet it is still the highest Test score away from home. There have been other triple-hundreds, yet this remains the only one made in the second innings of the team. In fact, it was made after following on - not from any mere 200-run deficit, but from an almost bottomless abyss of 473.
No doubt one of the best Pakistani Opener :k: **Hanif Mohammad’s incredible 16-hour effort to save a Test match for Pakistan at Bridgetown

By Arunabha Sengupta

January 23, 2013, 9:33 am
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Hanif Mohammad (right) batted 16 hours and 10 minutes the longest Test innings which remains unbroken till this day. In the time spent in the middle, covering nine consecutive sessions – enough to encompass almost 11 separate football matches. He had hit 24 boundaries and run 105 singles, 44 twos and 16 threes © Getty Images*

On this day 55 years ago, Hanif Mohammad rewrote the record books with an innings that was miraculous in terms of tenacity and concentration.Arunabha Sengupta revisits the 970-minute epic at Bridgetown with which the original Little Master miraculously saved the Test match by batting for nine consecutive sessions.

Till the middle of the third day, the Bridgetown Test followed a conventional script.

A phenomenally strong West Indian batting line up sent the touring Pakistanis on a leather hunt.Conrad Hunte belted 142 on debut, hitting 50 of the first 55 runs scored in the match – even though the batsman who stood at the other end was Rohan Kanhai. Everton Weekes plundered a strokeful 197, the last hundred of his fantastic career. Collie Smith and Garry Sobers registered half centuries, and Clyde Walcott had chipped in with 43.

Nasim-ul-Ghani set the record for the youngest Test debutant, at 16 years and 248 days, but had to return wicketless. And when the innings was closed at 579, Roy Gilchrist, Alf Valentine and the rest of them rushed out to pick up the wickets.

The Pakistanis, tired after two long days under the sun, surrendered meekly. After all, they had started playing Test cricket for just six years. On foreign turfs, they were expected to be minnows. On the morning of the third day, the wickets fell in a heap. Gilchrist knocked over four. Collie Smith’s leg-spin captured three. The swing of Eric Atkinson and the left-arm guile of Valentine made dents as well. The Pakistan innings folded for 106.

Saving the match was in the domain of impossibility. Not only was the deficit a monumental 473, it was also a six-day Test match. Three and a half days stretched ahead, a looming infinity in cricketing terms. Gilchrist, with his fierce run up, extreme pace and dodgy action, was raring to go once again.

And then the script went haywire, twisted out of the confines of reality, into the make-believe world of fairytales.

The eternal sentinel

Twenty-three year old Hanif Mohammad took guard. Perhaps moved by the boyish looks of the diminutive batsman, the veteran Walcott had passed on some valuable advice ahead of the innings: “Never try to hook Gilchrist.” Hanif started swaying away as the intimidating fast man bowled a barrage of bouncers.

It paid off. At the other end, wicketkeeper Imtiaz Ahmed put his head down. And Hanif delved into his immense powers of concentration. Eric Atkinson did trouble Hanif at first. “He used to put a lot of cream in his hair. That may have had something to do with the fact that he managed to swing it both ways, and swing it late,” Hanif recalled years later. However, the Pakistani openers stuck to their task.

In the final minutes of the day, Gilchrist brought one back to trap Imtiaz leg before for 91. Pakistan ended the day on 162 for one. Hanif was battling on at 61.

With three full days to go, no one really gave them a chance to save the match. Even that exemplary leader of men, Pakistan’s captain, Abdul Hafeez Kardar, spared himself the trouble of a pep talk. All Hanif got from the skipper was a note beside his bed that said, “You are our only hope.”

It was under scorching heat when Hanif resumed his innings the next day. Heat that made layers of skin peel off under his eye as he batted on and on. With time, he tried to farm as much of the strike as possible. The West Indians kept coming at him, using bowler after bowler. At the other end Alimuddinrestrained his attacking instincts and scored an uncharacteristically patient 37 before Sobers induced an edge off him. The second wicket stand had amounted to 112.

Hanif carried on, with debutant Saeed Ahmed joining him in the middle. Over after over were bowled, the pitch started to show signs of wear and tear – some balls splitting the ground and rising sharply. But, nothing could sway Hanif Mohammad. He stood like the “Sentinel of Eternity”, stretching the concept of time – much like Arthur C. Clarke had done a few years earlier in his work of science-fiction bearing the same name.
At the end of the fourth day, Hanif was unbeaten on 161, having scored exactly hundred during the day. Pakistan were 339 for two. Yet again he received a note from Kardar in the evening which simply said, “You can do it.”

The vigil continues

With two days still remaining, the match was not safe by any means. In came the West Indian bowlers again. Denis Atkinson bowled marathon spells. Clyde Walcott was asked to roll his arms over. Valentine tried to pull out every scrap of devious cunning from his huge bag of tricks. But Hanif could not be budged.
Saeed departed at 418, nicking a leg break from Smith. Hanif was joined at the wicket by elder brother Wazir Mohammad. The day wore on, hot and sultry. Time stood still as Hanif stood at the crease, impregnable in defence, exquisite in technique and immovable in concentration. The day ended with Pakistan on 525 for three. Hanif was still there on 270.

The lead was still just 52. A sudden collapse would still mean a West Indian victory. The note from Kardar that evening said, “If you can bat until tea tomorrow, the match will be saved.” Hanif had already batted for two and a half days. Now he got ready to bat another.
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Wazir left for 35, caught behind off Eric Atkinson. But younger brother went on batting. By now, the crowd – initially antagonistic towards Hanif’s relentless vigil – was thoroughly behind him. From all quarters of the stands full to the brim, and trees overpopulated with climbing fans, came all sorts of advice and encouragement. There were at least ten voices that told him how to play Gilchrist. Pakistan went in to lunch at 566 for four. Hanif was on 297.
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After the break, having batted for 14 hours and 18 minutes, Hanif reached 300. The crowd now roared with approval.

Wallis Mathias was now trapped plumb by a late in-swinger from Eric Atkinson. Captain Kardar came out to join Hanif in the middle. And at Tea, Hanif had fulfilled his captain’s wishes, still there unbeaten on 334. The score now was 623 for five. The match was safe.

Hanif had already rewritten the record for the longest innings in the history of the game, eclipsing Len Hutton’s 797 minute epic at The Oval scored two decades earlier. However, now Hutton’s 364 seemed to be within reach. The batsman set his eyes on the world record as he resumed his innings after Tea.

He had progressed to 337 when a ball from Denis Atkinson jumped up, kicking some dirt off the wicket, took the shoulder of his bat and went to Gerry Alexander behind the stumps. The 970- minute tale of phenomenal concentration had come to an end. **Hanif Mohammad, three layers of skin peeled from under his eye in the heat, walked back amidst tremendous applause, the sweat drenched handkerchief tied to his neck, still looking remarkably fresh.
**Hanif returns to the pavilion after his epic innings

The innings had lasted 16 hours and 10 minutes – although Hanif always maintained it had been 999 minutes. In any case, it had rewritten the record of the longest Test innings by three hours – and remains unbroken till this day. In the time spent in the middle, covering nine consecutive sessions and enough to encompass almost eleven separate football matches, he had hit 24 boundaries, and run 105 singles, 44 twos and 16 threes.

Fazal Mahmood came in and hammered a couple of sixes before Kardar closed the innings. The West Indian openers played out the remaining few minutes. The match ended in a draw.

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Howzat_1 · June 5, 2014, 4:15am

The original Little Master

This article is also worth to read **

The original Little Master

**August 25, 2013

Stuart Wark | |

http://www.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/111700/111716.jpg

Hanif Mohammad: Pakistan’s only truly world-class batsman for well over a decade

Last month *(http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/644275.html) the contenders for the title of India’s first great batsman. Therefore, it seems somewhat logical to now consider the first great batsman from Pakistan.

If we apply the same eligibility criteria as for India, in that the batsman must have played Test cricket for their “home” country, we commence the search in Pakistan’s first-ever Test match in October 1952. And we can also stop the search right there, because the answer is staring at us from the very top of the batting order. Hanif Mohammad opened the innings in that game, and he is his country’s first great batsman.

Hanif was born in Junagadh, India on December 21, 1934. He was the third of five children, and cricket was clearly a significant aspect of the entire family’s daily life. At least one of the Mohammad brothers was selected in the first 101 Tests that Pakistan played. Ultimately, four Mohammad brothers (Hanif, Wazir,Mushtaq, and Sadiq) played Test cricket, with the fifth brother (Raees) being named 12th man for one Test in 1955.

In 1947 a 13-year-old Hanif moved with his Muslim father and the rest of the family to Karachi. Even at this early point in his career, Hanif was demonstrating both a copybook technique and an aptitude to bat for long periods. While playing for his new high school, Sind Madressah Tul-Islam, he established an inter-school record of 305 not out on a matting wicket, which was common in Karachi. This innings was built over a period of seven and a half hours.

Performances such as this brought him to the attention of some leading cricket coaches in Karachi. One of these was Abdul Aziz Durani, a former wicketkeeper and father of future Indian Test cricketer Salim Durani, who had played an unofficial Test match for All India against the touring Australian team in 1936. Aziz started providing specialist coaching to Hanif, with an initial focus on helping him adapt his technique to incorporate both front- and back-foot play. Hanif’s father died shortly after the family’s move to Pakistan and Aziz appears to have been a father figure for Hanif during his teenage years.

The combination of determination, skill and performance in local Karachi grade cricket saw the 16-year-old Hanif chosen to play against the touring English (MCC) team on November 15, 1951, his first-class debut.

Hanif was selected as both an opening batsman and wicketkeeper, which is a combination of roles that has proven beyond the capabilities of most players. Against fast bowlers, including the likes of Brian Statham and Derek Shackleton, and on turf rather than the more familiar matting, Hanif batted well in scoring 26 out of an opening partnership of 96 with partner Nazar Muhammad (no relation). This performance with the bat, combined with satisfactory wicketkeeping, saw Hanif retained for the second game.

This match was played on matting in Karachi and Pakistan recorded their first victory over another country, defeating England by four wickets. While England were not at full strength, this victory would prove invaluable evidence of Pakistan’s readiness to join the Imperial Cricket Council (ICC) as an independent Test nation. Hanif was a key figure in the win, top-scoring with 64 in Pakistan’s successful chase of 288.

It is of considerable credit to Pakistan’s cricketing hierarchy of the 1950s that they recognised the need for their younger players to gain experience of playing in different conditions. They established a programme that saw Hanif supported to attend Alf Gover’s famous cricket school in England for 15 days in 1951. The fine coaching work of Aziz is underlined by the fact that Gover, after reviewing Hanif’s technique, insisted that no changes were required.

Gover helped Hanif work on his mental approach and concentration. The time spent in England was highly beneficial to Hanif, and the results showed soon afterwards on Pakistan’s first Test tour to India for a series of five Test matches. Hanif became the youngest player to make a century in each innings of a first-class match while scoring 121 and 109 against North Zone in Amritsar. No other Pakistan player managed to score a century in either innings of the game, a trend that would follow Hanif throughout his career.

Hanif was still only 17 at the time of his Test debut. However he had quickly established himself as one of Pakistan’s premier and most dependable batsmen. Abdul Hafeez Kardar had the honour of leading Pakistan in their first Test, and prior to the match he spent time with Hanif clearly outlining his role in the side. Kardar felt that the Pakistan batting order was inclined to collapse, so he asked Hanif to limit any risks and assume the sheet-anchor role.

Hanif fulfilled this role to perfection in Pakistan’s opening Test, scoring the first fifty for his country. Unfortunately, his 51 came out of a team total of only 150. Hanif maintained his consistent form throughout the series in scoring 287 runs at an average of 35.87 with a highest score of 96 in the third Test. This innings highlighted Hanif’s excellent concentration as he batted for over six hours. However, once he was caught at silly mid-off, four short of his century, the remaining seven wickets fell for just 71 runs and India romped to a ten-wicket win.

Over the next few years, when he gave up his wicketkeeping gloves to focus on his batting, Hanif played series’ against England, India and New Zealand. During the 1954 series against England, Hanif took the sheet-anchor role to an extreme level, scoring 20 runs off 223 balls in the first Test at Lord’s, which statistician Charles Davis reports is the slowest innings of its size. Soon afterwards, Hanif scored his first Test century in a match against India in Bahawalpur in January 1955. Hanif’s position as opener was secure, but he had been failing to put together the big scores consistently.

However, he would soon show the world why he was rated so highly by his peers. Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1957-58, with Hanif scoring 628 runsin the five Tests at an average of 69.77. Hanif was to become the first Asian player to score a triple century in a Test when he scored 337 in the first Test in Bridgetown which was played over six days.

Chasing West Indies’ imposing first-innings score of 579, Pakistan had capitulated for just 106. Forced to follow on, Pakistan started batting again before tea on day three. By tea time on day four, Hanif had moved to 139. Tea on day five saw Hanif undefeated on 216. And tea on day six saw Hanif still at the wicket, with 334 to his name and Pakistan safe from a defeat that looked inevitable three days earlier.

Hanif has the highest proportion of Test centuries in which no team-mate also scored a century
Hanif batted for an astonishing 970 minutes and compiled century partnerships with four different players including his brother Wazir. No other Pakistan player managed to reach the century mark individually. Even taking into account a clearly docile pitch, this mammoth effort remains the longest Test match innings in terms of time and showed his amazing capacity to concentrate for long periods. No record of how many balls Hanif faced is available. However it is the longest innings in terms of overs faced (309) and his final score of 337 still remains a Test record for any player from India or Pakistan.

Hanif maintained this rich vein of extreme high scores when the team returned home. He established a first-class record highest score of 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur in 1959. Ironically, he was run out in the final over of the game, searching for his 500th run.

Hanif was now almost universally seen as Pakistan’s leading batsman. However, Hanif began to be weighed down by the responsibility of being their mainstay. Never a fast scorer, his strike-rate was stalling even further as a result of not wanting to risk getting out and triggering a collapse. When Hanif scored a century in each innings against Englandit took 893 minutes, at a scoring-rate of less than 15 runs an hour.

Hanif’s 1962 tour of England saw the first sustained series of poor scores in his career, with 177 Test runs at an average of 17.70 and a highest score of just 47. The opportunity to redeem himself arrived five years later. He was nearing his mid-30s, and the English fast bowlers thought he was vulnerable to the short ball. John Snow, in particular, bounced him repeatedly but Hanif responded by scoring 187 not out in the first Test at Lord’s. This innings is now considered one of Hanif’s best performances, and was rated by John Arlott as the best knock of the summer. It was still very slow however, taking 556 balls. The match ended in a draw.

It was fascinating to read that Hanif has the highest proportion of Test centuries in which no team-mate also scored a century. This reinforces the fact that he carried the responsibility for Pakistan’s batting success. Hanif was the only truly world-class batsman in the Pakistan side for well over a decade, but, by the late '60s, his consistency was starting to wane. Hanif decided that the time was right to retire. He finished his Test career with 3915 runs with 12 centuries and 15 fifties.

While a Test average of 43.98 may not initially appear incredibly impressive - it was sitting at over 47 just a few Tests prior to his retirement - it compares very well to the majority of his peers, such as Kardar, who averaged in the 20s and 30s. It is also worth recognising that not many batsmen have coped with the pressure of almost single-handedly carrying a fledgling nation from their first Test onwards*.

Also, unlike some of his fellow players from India and Pakistan, it is hard to argue that Hanif was a “home-ground bully”. He scored Test centuries against all his Test playing opponents in “away” conditions, countering any claims that he lacked the ability to adapt. In fact, it is possible to argue that his best three batting efforts occurred in the West Indies, England, and Australia. His away average of 42.62 compares well with his overall average of 43.98.

Following his retirement from cricket, Hanif ran the Pakistan International Airlines colts scheme and this coaching and talent identification programme went on to produce a number of Test cricketers. Hanif founded and acted as chief editor of a magazine, the Cricketer Pakistan, from its inception in 1972 and also served in a number of roles with the national team, including as a batting consultant in 2002. Hanif was recently operated on for liver cancer, and we offer our best wishes for his continuing recovery.

** The great George Headley comes close, but his first Test occurred nearly two years after West Indies’ inaugural Test match against England in 1928. Still, he certainly carried West Indies’ batting expectations in their early years in a similar manner to what Hanif was to do with Pakistan a few decades later.

*Blogs: Stuart Wark on Hanif Mohammad, Pakistan’s first great batsman | Cricket Blogs | ESPN Cricinfo

devilish_angel · June 5, 2014, 9:59am