The last and final one in the Pakistan Cricket legends for today is perhaps their best batter ever. He was also called The Asian Bradman and for good reason because the consistency he showed throughout his playing career and the amount of runs that he got especially in test cricket is amazing. He was a role model to almost all future generations of Pakistan batters who wanted to follow in his footsteps and represent Pakistan in international cricket. A lot of them have publicly said that he was their hero so that is a very big thing for a player.
Not only Hanif Mohammad was a hero to Pakistan players but also to a lot of young Asian players who wanted to play cricket for their nations and especially one innings of his which we will talk about a little later in this article set him apart from the others and put him in a different stratosphere. The fans who got to watch him play live and the lucky ones as fans like us who are born in the new generation can only watch the highlights on YouTube.
So, let’s look at the Top 5 batting Performances of the great Hanif Mohammad.
337 vs West Indies (1958): Hanif Mohammad Highest Test Score
This innings is the one which I was talking about before because not only this was a staggering innings but the situation in which this innings came makes it one of the greatest test innings ever played. West Indies batted first in this test match and scored a mountain 579 runs in the first innings and Pakistan got out for only a shade over 100. West Indies put the follow on as they thought it was an easy victory but little did they know what was about to follow from the bat of Hanif Mohammad. He came to bat there in the 2nd innings and was not getting out despite anything the West Indies bowlers threw at him. He kept scoring runs and taking time from the game and he batted for over 18 hours in this innings. With the help of 24 boundaries he hit a triple hundred and certainly the best triple hundred of all time. Finally after making 337 he got out. He batted for a whooping 970 minutes in this innings. Pakistan were able to draw this match.
203* vs New Zealand (1965)
By the time Hanif Mohammad played this gem of an innings he was established as one of the best in the world during his time. Whenever he walked out to bat, all the Pakistan fans expected a hundred from him. In this innings against New Zealand he did not disappoint his fans. Pakistan were batting first in this test match and in this innings no one other than Hanif Mohammad got to three figures and he was not out throughout which means no bowler could get him out and with 33 fours all along the ground he hit a double hundred for the ages. He batted for 445 minutes in this innings.
187* vs England (1967)
The third innings which we will talk about came against England and this was a really special innings from the great Hanif Mohammad and he was becoming Mr Dependable for Pakistan. In this innings he played 556 balls and hit 21 fours and no England Bowler could get him out for 556 balls which says so much about his tenacity and his determination. This match was played in Lord’s, London.
160 vs India (1960)
Like all the other greats of Pakistan cricket Hanif Mohammad loved scoring runs against India and his best ever knock vs India came in this test match in the year 1960. Hanif Mohammad came out to open the batting and he just kept toying with the Indian bowling attack that day and he hit 17 fours in this marathon innings and all the Indian fans also had to show their respect to this all time great of the game. He got run out after playing for 380 minutes.
104 vs Australia (1964)
This was a test match at the MCG and Pakistan were betting first. He was the captain of the side as well in this match. All the other batters were getting out cheaply. He played aggressively in this innings against his natural game. For him to play this sort of innings against such a good bowling attack and score a brilliant century for his nation is special and even the Aussies showed their respect to him.
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