Coming to the Pakistan national Test team as a medium pacer, Azhar Mahmood surprised everybody with his batting prowess when he scored an unbeaten century and half century against South Africa in 1997. He went on to torture the Proteas further, scoring two more centuries and did enough to cement his position in the team.

In an ODI game, his lower middle-order batting prowess came to the fore when he would usually bunt the ball around the park and help bolster his team’s score. In the bowling department, he was not like most Pakistani bowlers who were renowned for their ability to swing and reverse swing the ball. Mahmood was more of an English-style seam bowler who would chip in with regular wickets whenever needed. A hard-worker and an interesting player to watch, he had the ability to turn matches on their head with his brave exploits on the field. Mahmood was dropped from the team post 2005 for a while and then recalled in early 2007 for the ODI series against South Africa. It wasn’t a very memorable series for him and he was subsequently left out of the 2007 World Cup squad in the West Indies. An injury to all-rounder Abdul Razzaq granted him yet another call back to the squad but unfortunately, he did not get a game in the series. Pakistan exited the tournament prematurely and this led to his axing one more time.

In the English domestic circuit, he plied his trade for Surrey. Mahmood applied for British citizenship after marrying an Englishwoman and in late 2007, signed a two-year deal to play with Kent and has since been regarded as an English-qualified player. In 2012, Mahmood became the first player from Pakistan to feature in IPL season five due to his English citizenship, as he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab.