ICC honours Pakistan's 'Little Master' on his 87th birth anniversary

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday paid tribute Pakistani Test cricket legend Hanif Mohammad on his 87th birth anniversary.

According to details, the cricketer was famous for excellent defence and never hitting ball in the air. He could also attack and was the presumable inventor of reverse-sweep.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) commemorated Pakistani Test cricket legend in official Twitter post.

ICC tweeted, "On this day in 1934, the architect of the longest Test innings, a 970-minute vigil for 337 runs in Bridgetown in 1958, Hanif Mohammad was born".

On this day in 1934, the architect of the longest Test innings, a 970-minute vigil for 337 runs in Bridgetown in 1958, Hanif Mohammad was born ? pic.twitter.com/qQIBO5xkgR

— ICC (@ICC) December 21, 2021

The star cricketer, who set a major record in Test cricket bagging 337 runs in a 970 minutes innings against West Indies, was born on December 21, 1934, in Junagadh, India. He passed away in 2016.

Hanif Mohammad, also known as "The Original Little Master," set numerous records in Test cricket—the sport’s highest level. He played the longest innings in history (16 hours), and was the first Pakistani player to score a triple century. The knock was followed a year later with the highest first-class innings to that point, 499 run out.

He represented Pakistan in 55 Tests, scoring 3,915 runs at an average of 43.98. He still holds the record for highest score (337) in an innings by a Pakistani batsman followed by Inzamamul Haq (329) and Younus Khan (313). The veteran was also named as Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1968. The batsman also captained Pakistan in 11 test matches. He was also a bowler as well as a wicket keeper.

In January 2009, Hanif Mohammad was named along with two other Pakistani players — Imran Khan and Javed Miandad — among the inaugural batch of 55 inductees into the ICC’s Hall of Fame. 

The cricketer's versatility covered captaining for the squad, wicket keeping and bowling both right and left arm in Test cricket.