By Samiul Hasan
LEGENDARY Hanif Mohammad broke his silence on his controversial retirement in 1969 and termed it as a "forced one` by the then President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), Abdul Hafeez Kardar. "It was more a professional jealousy than the reasons given by the President after the first Test against New Zealand at the National Stadium 27 years ago," Hanif, in an interview, said, adding: "The Chairman and the fellow members were jealous of me because I was still playing while they had faded out in the early 60s."
Hanif, who was a former Chairman of Selectors and is now a World Cup Technical Committee member, stated that one of the reasons given by Kardar was that he had lost his touch "and now I was a spent force."
"Kardar was able to say this because I dropped four catches on the first day of the Test. But I stressed that it was because of the wicket that I was unable to hold onto the catches. The strip was so uneven and double-paced that the fielders standing behind the wickets faced all sorts of problems in adjusting," said Hanif, adding: "To make the records straight, out of those four catches, three were deflected to me by wicketkeeper Wasim Bari.
"The wicket was so badly prepared that the mud came out on the very first ball that fell on it. It was made for Nazeer Junior who was making his debut. It ended my career prematurely."
Hanif emphasised that he was not making excuses for dropping the catches. "But it was one of my bad days in a 19-year career which gave the administrators an excuse to oust me. All my services to the country, game and the team went down the drain."
The other reason put forward by Kardar, Hanif continued, was that three brothers cannot play in one team. It may be recalled that in the first Test against New Zealand Sadiq Mohammad made his debut while Mushtaq Mohammad was already in the team.
"In other words, I was threatened that if I did not retire the careers of Mushtaq and Sadiq may be jeopardised," Hanif said. "It was a bad decision because Kardar was out of the country then and forced me to retire on the advice of his so-called advisers."
Hanif felt that he had to retire "but to retire me then was highly controversial."
"I had told Kardar that when he decides to retire me, he should inform me so that I can announce my last game. But because of his sudden decision, I could not announce my last game and consequently was deprived of a standing ovation which I think I deserved after 19 years of cricket services."
Hanif stressed that it was his only regret of life. "What the people could have done except given me a standing ovation and clap for me while I was returning after my last appearance."
Hanif disclosed that besides ending his career, Kardar also did not fulfill a promise he (Kardar) made in front of his long time friend Imtiaz Ahmad at Bagh-i-Jinnah ground. "He promised me that after I retire, he would organise a benefit match. But Kardar never honoured the promise."
Hanif, who scored 3,915 runs in 55 Tests with 11 centuries, including a double, and the famous 337 against the West Indies at Barbados in 1958-59 which is still the longest Test innings, discussing today`s cricket with cricket of his days said there was a world of difference. "The biggest difference is that there are protection gears for every part of the body while in our days there was only abdominal guard besides pads and gloves. Now you have helmets, chest guards, arm guards, thigh pads etc. Because of these, cricket has become quite easy as compared to my days."
Hanif stated that these gears have given enormous confidence to the batsmen who are now sure that they will not be seriously injured. "Aziz lost his life at the KPI ground in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy final between Karachi and Services when Dildar`s ball hit him on the chest. Similarly, Indian Nari Contractor lost his confidence as a player after he was hit on the head in a Test against the West Indies."
The former Pakistan captain said besides gears, the laws of the game have also changed making it a batsman-oriented game.
"In our days when we had no appropriate protection gears, there was no bouncer law. Interestingly, a bowler is entitled to two bouncers an over now when a batsman is wearing everything. It`s ridiculous and I don`t support the law.
"It was introduced because some of the teams lacked genuine fast bowlers and their batsmen the courage to counter the pace bowling."
Hanif recalled that when he scored a historic 337 against the West Indies, his body was full of red spots. "My thigh muscle was almost damaged because every second ball hit me on it. I was sometimes keeping nappies and sometimes towels but they all were insufficient because the West Indian fast bowlers were too quick. Honestly, in that series we all were chasing just a red strip because we hardly saw the ball after it left the bowler`s hand."
Hanif said that major reason for the introduction of more and more safety gears is because cricket was being played more than before. "Only Pakistan played 11 Tests last year. Secondly, I played 55 Tests in 19 years while Javed Miandad crossed my figure in just five-and-a-half years."
The other thing which is quite significant, Hanif said, was that cricket has now become an industry. "The cricket boards are now rich by getting huge money from the sponsors, advertisers or by selling television rights. In our days, the cricket boards were dependent on government grants.
"The players are now more established because they are being paid huge sums of money to play one match. In our days, we used to get Rs 15 per day. Then, we had to apply for leave to represent Pakistan while now I hardly see a player turning up at his employer`s office."
Hanif maintained that ball tampering was common is his days. "I have seen many bowlers lifting the seam and applying vaseline to the ball. Now all these things have been termed illegal."
"One thing which has certainly played a leading role in the promotion of the game is the electronic coverage. Wherever and whenever you are playing, your pictures are shown live. In our days, there was no concept of TV coverage.
"I can`t say if I was a good player or an excellent one or an ordinary, willow-wielder. But I definitely say that I had a good eye and an equally good concentration. I am not sure if I had been the best batsman if playing in this era, but I would certainly have been one of the leading run-getters. A run aggregate of 3,915 in 55 Tests, I don`t think gives the clear picture."
Hanif said it was because of this era`s revolutionary inventions that Pakistan has brilliant and more talented cricketers as compared to his days. "Then we used to have three or four good players while the others were selected just to make up the numbers. At that time we had a handful of players out of whom we had to pick a team. Now we have more that 150 highly promising players which has made the selection very difficult."
Asked to comment on one-day cricket and about Pakistan`s chances in the World Cup, Hanif said: "one-dayers were introduced because Test cricket was losing its charm and interest. The spectators were not coming to watch the game.
One-dayers have supported cricket very much because you get the result the same day and then the people also follow Test cricket to watch if their team was also as good as in one-day cricket.
"I think, one-day cricket is feeding Test cricket, bringing lot of money through sponsorship."
Hanif commenting on Pakistan`s chances in the World Cup said it had more or less the same composition which won the title in 1992. "We don`t have Imran Khan but we have Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar who couldn`t make to the 1992 event because of one reason or the other. If that team can win the World Cup,
I have all the reasons to believe that this team can also retain the title," he said, adding: "But one-day cricket is extremely unpredictable. You never know what one over can do."
Hanif, however, said a lot of work has to be done in the fielding department. "It is the weakest of three and it can play the decisive role."