Google pays homage to 'Little Master' Hanif Mohammad on his 84th birthday with doodle

DUBAI: Google is paying tribute  to Pakistan's legendary cricketer ‘Little Master’ Hanif Mohammad   with its doodle feature on his 84th birthday  which is celebrated on December 21. 

Google honours prominent personalities and occasions with special logos that it calls 'doodles'.  The search engine giant posted a Doodle to mark the birth anniversary of Hanif Mohammad on Friday (today).

In the past, Google also paid tribute to Pakistan’s prominent personalities, Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Noor Jehan, Nazia Hassan, Fatima Surayya Bajia  and many others. 

Hanif Mohammad, also known as "The Original Little Master." The Pakistani batsman set numerous records in Test cricket—the sport’s highest level. He played the longest innings in history (16 hours), was the first Pakistani player to score a triple century.

"Hanif and his record-breaking athleticism are even credited with helping popularize cricket in Pakistan,” Google wrote.

Born in Junagadh, India on this day in 1934, Mohammad grew up playing cricket in the street with his brothers. He excelled as a batsman. Hanif went on to play for teams representing Bahawalpur, Karachi, and Pakistan International Airlines and made his international debut against India in 1952.

The little master,  over the next 17 years, played 55 test matches for Pakistan—11 of them as team captain—and scored a total of 3,915 runs. Considered one of the best batsmen ever to play the sport, Mohammad even surpassed the great Don Bradman’s record for the highest individual innings.

Following his retirement, Mohammed took up the position of Pakistan’s batting consultant in 2002. Today, his son Shoaib and grandson Shehzar carry on the cricketer family tradition.  The great player  passed away  August 11, 2016 at age of 81.