Pride of Pakistan – Hanif Mohammad

Hanif Mohammed is a respected name and an essential part of Pakistan cricket. Hanif Mohammed made his test career debut at the age of 17.

Initially Hanif Mohammed was coached by Abdul Aziz, a wicket keeper who played for All India team. Abdul Aziz guided Hanif and taught him to adjust to all sorts of batting conditions. His training came handy when Hanif was selected to play against England when the English team visited Pakistan. Hanif’s contribution with the bat in the second match at Karachi and agility behind the wickets were instrumental in getting test status for Pakistan.

To improve the performance of cricketers, some cricketers from Pakistan were sent to England to Alf Glover’s cricket school with Hanif being one of them. Glover satisfied with Hanif’s technique suggested that no changes should be made to it.

Hanif Mohammed stands out in the history of cricket with his famous score of 378 runs against West Indies which took more than sixteen hours. He not only set a world record of the longest innings of that time but also saved Pakistan from defeat. Hanif’s triple century remains the only triple century in 2^nd innings so far.

Hanif Mohammed also has the honor of exceeding Don Bradman’s record of the highest individual score. Hanif Mohammed made 499 runs and was run out when attempting the 500^th run. His batting feats earned him the nickname of “Little Master”.

Hanif Mohammed also kept wickets when required and had the ability to bowl with either arm. Hanif Mohammed played a total of 55 test matches with an average of 43.98 runs and scored 12 centuries.

Hanif Mohammed was named the Wisden Cricketer of the year 1959, he was also awarded the President’s Pride of Performance in 1968. Hanif Mohammed’s name has been inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame.

Pride of Pakistan-Mushtaq Mohammad

Mushtaq Mohammed is one of the five Mohammed brothers; four of whom have etched a prominent place for themselves in the history of cricket.

Born in 1943, Mushtaq Mohammed started playing first class cricket at the age of 13 years. He showed his potential as an all-rounder by scoring 87 runs and taking 5 wickets for just 28 runs on his debut. He was associated with the English county Northamptonshire from 1966-1977. Altogether Mushtaq has scored 31,091 runs most of them when playing for Northamptonshire. Mushtaq also captained the county which won its first ever trophy the Gillette Cup in 1976 and also bagged second position in county championship.

Mushtaq Mohammed made his test debut against West Indies in 1959 at Lahore. Although Mushtaq is said to be the youngest test player, there are doubts about the authenticity of this claim. Mushtaq scored his first test century against India in India.  Mushtaq was also an accomplished wrist- spinner who got wickets at crucial moments with his googly, flipper and legbreak. Mushtaq Mohammed was also a part of the Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket.

Due to ample opportunity he got when playing for Northamptonshire, Mushtaq became the first Pakistani to score 25,000 runs. Mushtaq is also a master of reverse sweep; a stroke he learnt from his elder brother the legendary Hanif Mohammed.

The year 1973 was particularly good for Mushtaq; he scored a century (121) against Australia and a month later a double century (201) against New Zealand. He scored 777 runs that year.

Mushtaq also led Pakistani team in 19 matches. Under his captaincy, the Pakistani team defeated West Indies in West Indies with Mushtaq contributing 121 and 56 with the bat and claiming 8 victims with the ball. Pakistan also won the home series against India in 1978-79.

Mushtaq also coached the Pakistan team which reached the finals of the 1999 World Cup.

Pride of Pakistan-Mohsin Khan

Mohsin Hasan Khan is an ex-cricketer from Pakistan who used to open the innings for Pakistan in the late 70s till the mid 80s.

Mohsin Khan made his ODI debut against West Indies at Albion and his test debut against England in 1978 at Karachi. Mohsin Khan is one of the few batsmen who could adapt well to the bouncy Australian pitches. His centuries at Adelaide (149) and Melbourne (153) in the 1983-84 series are ample proof. Even in England he scored a double century at Lords in 1982. An interesting record associated with Mohsin Khan is that he scored 101 runs from the required 135 runs in the 2^nd innings of a test match against India. This remains the lowest team score featuring a century to date.

Mohsin Khan was a stylish batsman who scored a total of 2709 runs in the 48 matches he played. In the One Day Internationals his total score is 1877 from 75 appearances. He retired from cricket in 1986.

Mohsin Khan was appointed the chief selector of PCB in 2009-10.

Pride of Pakistan-Iqbal Qasim

Iqbal Qasim was a stylish left arm spin bowler from Pakistan who was a part of the national team from 1976-1988.

Born in Karachi in 1953, Iqbal Qasim belonged to the “memon community”. Iqbal Qasim was a brilliant spinner who often baffled the batsmen with variations in pace and flight of the ball. Iqbal Qasim was a penetrative bowler who was more concerned about the accuracy of the ball.

In his test career of 50 test matches, Qasim took 171 wickets at an average of 28.11. He took 5 wickets in an innings on 8 occasions and 10 wickets in a match twice. His career best performance remains 7 wickets for 49 runs. His ODI record shows 15 matches to his credit with 12 wickets at an average of 41.66.

Iqbal Qasim’s career best performance was against India in India in the 1987 series. In the 5^th test at Bangalore, Qasim took 9 wickets for 121 runs and played a key role in Pakistan’s first ever series win in India.

Iqbal Qasim was not that good with the bat but was a pretty decent fielder. Iqbal Qasim served the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) as the Chief Selector.

Pride of Pakistan- Manzoor ul Hassan

Manzoor ul Hassan

Gojra a small town in the Faisalabad division has produced many hockey superstars; Manzoor ul Hasan being one of them.

Dubbed as Mr. Reliable and The Great Wall of China, Manzoor playing as a defender put up an impenetrable defense. He was dreaded and respected by his opponents for his skills and outstanding play. He scored 104 goals from 154 matches. He saved numerous goals against Pakistan making him the strong weapon of the Pakistan team. Manzoor ul Hasan together with Munnawar uz Zaman made a tough winning difficult to beat combination during the 70s era. In the 1982 World Cup Tournament, Manzoor’s performance was brilliant and can be easily called one of the best performances of his life.

He later coached the national team which won the silver medal in the World Cup held at Lahore. A players’ revolt forced him to step down from the post in 1996.

Pride of Pakistan-Khawaja Saeed Mirza

 

Khawaja Saeed Mir commonly known as Saeed Mir is one of the big names of Pakistan tennis. He enjoys the distinction of being the first Pakistani player ever to feature in a grand slam tournaments; Wimbledon (three times), US Open and French Open (twice). He qualified for the main draw of Wimbledon for three consecutive years from 1954-1956. He represented Pakistan in the Davis Cup and was the captain of the team 32 times; a record yet to be equaled by any other player of the world. At home he was the Triple Crown holder of National Championship with Single’s, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Double titles to his credit. An interesting and unusual one of its kind incident associated with him is that he killed a bird with his service during the England Tennis Championship.

Saeed Mir has received international recognition for his outstanding performance and services in the field of tennis. He was awarded a gold medal by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in the annual meeting held at Lausnne, Switzerland. The French Tennis Federation celebrated the century of French Championship and built a commemorative wall displaying the names of outstanding players; Saeed Mir’s name was one of them.

Since his retirement he has served the PTF (Pakistan Tennis Federation) as the President and the Chairman of Selection Committee.

Pride of Pakistan-Sadiq Mohammed

Sadiq Mohammed the youngest of the five Mohammed brothers was born in 1945. Ever since Pakistan was recognized as a test playing nation, one of the Mohammed brothers had been a part of the Pakistan cricket team with Hanif Mohammed and Mushtaq Mohammed being the most successful.

Like his brothers, Sadiq Mohammed was a strong right handed batsman but on his brother Hanif Mohammed’s advice, Sadiq Mohammed switched over to left handed batting as Hanif thought that there were already too many right handed batsmen in the team. Initially Sadiq Mohammed played as a middle order batsman but later became a reliable opener. Sadiq Mohammed also played for the English County Gloucestershire.

Sadiq Mohammed made his test debut in 1969 at Karachi against New Zealand. He played 41 test matches with 2579 runs scored at an average of 35.81; his total includes five hundreds. He featured in 19 ODIs and made 383 runs at an average of 21.27 runs.

Pride of Pakistan-Samiullah Khan

 

Samiullah Khan is a legendary hockey player from Pakistan. He played as a left winger and was famous for his speed, stamina and his crosses which often resulted in goals.

Known as the “Flying Horse”, Samiullah showed incredible agility on the hockey field and could tear through the opponent’s defense with ease. Samiullah played in 151 tournaments. On top of Samiullah’s impressive record are the silver medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, gold medal in Bangkok Asian Games in 1978, gold medal in the Asia Cup held in Karachi and gold in the New Delhi Asian Games. The latter two were played under his captaincy.

Samiullah retired from hockey in 2005 and served as the manager of the junior team.

Samiullah’s brother Kalimullah was a right winger and both brothers formed a menacing attacking line.

Pride of Pakistan-Saqlain Mushtaq

Saqlain Mushtaq the Pakistani off spin bowler will be remembered in the history of cricket as one of the greatest off spinners of his time. A gifted bowler, Saqlain pioneered the mystery ball “doosra”. Saqlain Mushtaq produced many variations in the spin bowling technique

Saqlain Mushtaq began his career with a test and ODI career against Sri Lanka in 1995. He finished with 4 wickets in his first test series. Saqlain’s career best remains his performance against India in 1999 when he made a clean sweep and took 10 wickets in the Chennai test. Saqlain Mushtaq was the quickest to reach the 100, 150,200 and 250 wicket mark in ODIs. Saqlain also holds the distinction of being the only spin bowler to achieve a hat-trick in an ODI and one of the three bowlers to have taken two hat-tricks in ODIs; compatriot Wasim Akram and Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas being the other two. The Wisden statistical analysis of 2003 declared Saqlain the greatest ODI spinner and the sixth greatest ODI bowler. He was the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 2000.

Saqlain had a successful association with the English County Surrey and Sussex.

Pride of Pakistan-Sarfraz Nawaz

 

Sarfraz Nawaz is a fast bowler from Pakistan. He is considered one of the pioneers of “reverse swing” bowling.

The Lahore born Sarfraz Nawaz began his career at the age of 20. His dismal performance in the first test against England played at Karachi saw him out of the national team for the next four years. He then made a remarkable come back when he performed brilliantly with both bat and ball against Australia in the 1972-73 series. As a matter of fact his best performances have been against Australia. In the Melbourne Test in 1978-79, Australia needed only 77 runs to win and had 7 wickets in hand. Sarfraz Nawaz claimed those seven wickets conceding only one run in 33 balls to give Pakistan a memorable and almost impossible victory. Overall he took 9 wickets for 86 runs; the best performance by a Pakistani bowler against Australia and the fifth best performance in test cricket.

Sarfraz Nawaz mastered the reverse swing and passed it on to his peer (Imran Khan) and his successors. Sarfraz Nawaz saved Pakistan many times with both ball and bat. A bowling genius, he could seam the ball in both directions but he was also a temperamental person who was often in trouble due to his reckless behavior.

After retiring from cricket, he entered politics and served as an MPA (Member of Provincial Assembly) for three years. He later became a cricket commentator.

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