Equal #22: Hanif Mohammad (20 points)
Lists featured on: 6/29
Top 5 finishes: 0
Highest finish: 8th (1)
And tied on the same amount of points is the other Pakistani batsman on this list, Hanif Mohammad. The original owner of the 'little master' nickname. Arguably the first cricket star Pakistan ever produced(him or Fazal) he was certainly the first batting star. It seems according to CW he would definitely be opening the batting for his nation in an ATG XI.
It's easy to see why too, he holds/held some pretty interesting records. He played the longest innings in test history, a 970 minute 337 to save his nation from
certain defeat in 1958. Pakistan put up 106 in their first innings reply to the West Indies 579... and somehow didn't lose a
6 day match. All thanks to Haniff pretty much. After Pakistan crumbled in their first innings on day 3 and were made to follow on, Haniff in the second dig batted all the way from day 3 to day 6! His innings totaled around 16 hours at the crease and lord knows how many balls he faced. Pakistan secured a very impressive draw against a Windies side with Gilchrist, Valentine and Sobers as the main bowling threats - not top tier but not pushovers either.
The next year Haniff proved his patience and persistence at the crease was no fluke, hitting 499 in a first class game before being run out of all things. This is still the second highest score in all first class cricket, obviously, with only Lara's knock beating it. Man I assume he was filthy at his batting partner in the dressing sheds afterwards for that run out.
His test record looks good, averaging over 40 against all nations except one. The only asterisk on his record is his output against England. Against Australia with Davidson and Benaud he averaged a very solid 50 from 6 tests, but against the poms it dropped down to 33 from 18 matches. England certainly had some awesome bowlers around this time but it still seems a little on the low side and is perhaps why he's not remembered more fondly than he is.
However there was a bright spot. A test played in... Dhaka funnily enough in 1962 where he scored a ton in each innings to help his nation to a draw(probably as good as a win for Pakistan in those days weren't they). In this match the only bowler of any quality who I recognize is Tony Lock. Ken Barrington even bowled 21 overs in the second innings... but with 13 maidens so maybe he was suited to the job.
Mohammad was the perfect opener in a lot of ways. His defense was his biggest attribute and he was known for almost never hitting the ball in the air, a method for success often associated with Bradman.
