Hanif Mohammad operated for liver cancer

Hanif Mohammad, the legendary Pakistan batsman, has successfully undergone an operation for liver cancer. Mohammad, 78, underwent the operation on Tuesday and will remain under observation for a week.

"It (the cancer) has been diagnosed at an early stage and it has not spread anywhere else," his surgeon Robert Hutchins told AFP.

According to a report in Dawn, Mohammad's illness was diagnosed four weeks ago in a Karachi hospital. He flew to London for a second opinion, where he was operated on.

"I am feeling fine. The surgeon has told me that it is just the start and it has not spread and that I have got to get it out," Hanif told the paper. "I would have loved to watch the Lord's Ashes Test but it seems that I will not be able to because I am told that I will have to stay in the ICU and hospital for a week, and then will have to rest for a month."

Mohammad was one of the earliest stars of Pakistan cricket, and his impeccable technique helped him set several world records. He holds the record for the longest innings in Test history, when he scored 337 in 970 minutes against West Indies in Barbados in 1957-58. In the next year, he set the world record for the highest first-class score when he scored an unbeaten 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur, until he was overtaken by the former West Indies batsman Brian Lara.