When and why was Muhammad Hanif called 'Little Master'?

LAHORE (Web Desk) - For centuries, it has been a practice to honor legends with titles and nick names but sometime these substitutes overshadow the original name. The same happened with Hanif Muhammad and his nick name, "Little Master".

There is an uphill struggle and journey that the star batsman faced before finally being called "Little Master".

Hanif's consistency earned him the title as he was calm and composed on the pitch. He, owing to his patience, braved the longest spells by the opposing team and yet remained firm on the ground.

The historic innings that earned him the title was against West Indies in Bridge Town Test (1957/58). Abdul Hafeez Kardar, captain of Pakistan, lost the toss and Alexander, West Indian Captain, elected to bat on a pitch that was a batsman's paradise. West Indian captain declared their innings after scoring 579 runs with the loss of 9 wickets as the second day came to a close.

Pakistan had to bat for 15 to 20 tough minutes at the end of 2nd day. Hanif Muhammad and Imtiaz Ahmad survived the day scoring 6 runs with out any loss. Next day proved to be the day of destruction for the batting side of Pakistan. They were all out only on 106 runs just before the lunch time on the 3rd day. Pakistanis had to bat again after being forced to follow-on. They needed 473 runs to avoid the innings defeat and almost three and half day remaining in the game.

Next day proved to be the day of destruction for batting side of Pakistan. They were all out only on 106 runs just before the lunch time on the 3rd day. Pakistanis had to bat again after being forced to follow-on. They needed 473 runs to avoid the innings defeat and almost three and half day remaining in the game.

Pakistanis had to bat again after being forced to follow-on. They needed 473 runs to avoid the innings defeat and almost three and half day remaining in the game.

Here the extraordinaire Haneef Muhammed displayed his skills as he remained on the crease for painstakingly sixteen hours. He got out on 337 but his consistency helped Pakistan set aside a probable defeat.

Another performance that earned him fame was his innings against Bahawalpur in 1958 during a first-class match. Haneef fell shy of 500 runs by a mere run and got out in the last over at 499.

He had an extra talent as he could bowl with both right and left hand apart from being a wicketkeeper as well.

It is relevant to mention that Haneef remained down to earth throughout his life and he himself called India's Sunil Gavaskar the actual 'Little Master'.

“Gavaskar, in fact, is the Little Master number one, I come second,” said Hanif in his magnanimous comment for the prolific former Indian batsmen in 2013.

Hanif is currently braving cancer at a hospital and is said to be in a critical condition.