KARACHI, March 7: Hanif Mohammad, Pakistan’s legendary opening batsman, was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after being confined to bed for several days with a knee problem.

The 71-year-old Hanif, arguably the most famous of the illustrious Mohammad Brothers, who has a long history of being troubled by chronic knee problems from his playing days, had complained of excruciating pain and was bedridden for the past four days.

Hanif, affectionately known in cricketing circles as the ‘Little Master’, rose to fame way back in 1957-58 when he batted for 970 minutes during the Bridgetown Test to score a match-saving 337 against West Indies.

Described as one of the finest batsmen of his era, Hanif represented Pakistan in 55 Tests during a 17-year career which ended prematurely in 1969-70 when his younger brothers Mushtaq and Sadiq also played in the same Test against New Zealand at Karachi.

Hanif, who also skippered Pakistan in Test cricket, scored 3915 runs at an average of 43.98 with 12 centuries.