Karachi: Pakistani cricket legend Hanif Mohammad has been admitted to a local hospital, here, on Saturday night. Hanif Mohammad underwent a successful liver cancer treatment in London in 2013 however it seems it has now infected him again.
His son, Shoaib Mohammad has meanwhile urged the government to look into the matter as the legendary sportsman needs advanced treatment to cure the disease. “The old technique is not working on him anymore and he is in need of advanced Chemotherapy to treat the infection”, Shoaib Mohammad told this correspondent.
“I have been trying to contact government officials but to no avail as yet”, added Shoaib Mohammad
Shoaib Mohammad, himself a former Test cricketer, said Hanif Mohammad is an asset of Pakistan and should be taken care of adequately.
Hanif Mohammad is the first batsman to be known as the ‘Little Master’ – a nickname later carried by India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.
He is known for playing the longest innings in Test history – 16 hours and 10 minutes – against the West Indies at Bridgetown in 1958. This innings, of 337 runs, rescued Pakistan after the follow-on and a deficit of 473 runs.
In 1959, playing for Karachi, Hanif Mohammad recorded the first-class score of 499 against Bahawalpur in Karachi. The record was broken by West Indies’ legend Brian Lara by scoring 501 in a county game in 1994.
The writer is a Pakistani journalist & tweets @mak_asif