WC 2015 IND vs PAK: ‘The better team won,’ recalls Hanif Mohammad, who watched the game from a hospital bed

Mumbai: Former Pakistan captain and first known Little Master of the game Hanif Mohammad watched the India-Pakistan World Cup match from his hospital bed on Sunday.

The 80-year-old former great was admitted to Karachi's Aga Khan Hospital for fever and cough for two to three days. Speaking exclusively over his mobile from the hospital, when he was preparing for the discharge on Sunday late evening, Hanif said, "The better team has won. India played like a champion. The Indian team looked like a bunch of matured players as against Pakistan's inexperienced lot. The Indian team showed to the World that they can win against any odds."

(Photo: AP)

Hanif Mohammad also confirmed the report of his injury which has been mentioned in Sunil Gavaskar's latest column.

"Hanif Mohammad, whose following was as much as any Indian player, used to get mobbed everywhere that he went, and when he injured his hand there were reports in the Pakistan papers that some so called fan had put a razor blade in his palms while shaking hands with the Little Master and that's how he sustained the injury," Sunil Gavaskar has written in his column on Sunday.

"Yes, that had happened many years when we were returning from Pune. I was injured due to someone having a sharp-edged ring in his hand and was trying to shake hands with me. But I don't want to recall this incident on the day when your team has won the important match against India," Hanif added.

"Yes, that is true. My dad was in the coach and some fan wanted to shake hands from the coach window. He (the fan) had a razor blade between the fingers and resulted in a slit in dad's right hand," Hanif's son, Shehzad recalled exclusively over the telephone from London.