Hanif, who turned 80 on December 21, spoke of this during his birthday celebrations at his residence, which was attended by the likes of Younus Khan, Moin Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Adnan Akmal, Taufiq Umar, Sadiq Mohammad and Olympian Wasim Ferzoe. However, PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan and Shahid Afridi were unable to take part in the festivities due to varying reasons.
In Hanif’s 55-Test career, the Little Master scored 3915 runs at an average of 43.98 with 12 centuries and 15 fifties. He still holds the record of the highest runs in a Test innings for Pakistan, a 337-run knock against the West Indies in 1957-58, while Inzamamul Haq and Younus Khan are the other Pakistani batsmen to have scored triple centuries.
“The PCB has recognised and rewarded Inzamam and Younus for scoring triple hundreds, but my feat hasn’t been acknowledged by them till date,” said Hanif, with Younus sitting next to him. “I played in an era where cricketing gear wasn’t appropriate and neither were the pitches. We took body blows for our country, sustained bruises and broken bones but yet our achievements have been overlooked, which is a shame.”
He recalled a lack of professionalism in his time, where cricketers faced the brunt of poor pays while modern-day players take home hefty pay checks.
Hanif further added that he hopes to have his own academy, where he can see players being coached and mentored properly, who would represent Pakistan in the international circuit.
Meanwhile, Younus urged the authorities to honour the legend. “I’ll take upon the task myself of pleading our living legend’s cause,” stated Younus. “I will appeal to the government and the concerned authorities to not just give Hanif an academy but a proper institute should be built in his name where players can learn the trade.
“Today our hero is alive and we should act quickly to honour his services instead of mourning in the future. Players like Hanif are the nation’s real heroes because they played in an era where there were hardly any facilities as compared to today.”
At the occasion, the veteran batsman also revealed that he would have declared his 313-run innings against Sri Lanka had he closed in on Hanif’s record. “I would’ve declared my innings had I came close to 337-run record when I scored the triple century against Sri Lanka,” he concluded.
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I distinctly remember Great Hanif playing his last test with his two brothers also a record. Hanif and Sadiq had a good opening partnership but he was told to announce his retirement so "his brothers can play". Hanif had scored 3915 test runs and they could not wait for him to do 4000 a big record that time. It is a shame that except Imran and Afridi most of our national heroes have been forced to retire without much recognition. Hanif was the first Pakistani to have scored centuries against all test playing countries and on their own soil.
The Original Little Master! What a shame that the legend's contributions have been ignored!