Azhar Mahmood (; born 28 February 1975) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer. He was the bowling coach of the Pakistani national cricket team until 2019. Previously, he played Tests and ODIs for Pakistan national cricket team and county cricket in England. Azhar is a dual British citizen. Personal life Azhar Mahmood's wedding ceremony was held in 2003; his wife is British Pakistani. Domestic career As a teenager, Azhar was mentored by Irfan Bhatti who played a One Day International for Pakistan in the early 1990s. Originally his father objected to his interest in cricket, but later started to appreciate it seeing his accomplishments. When not doing net practice, Azhar would fancy himself playing tape ball cricket on the cemented pitch in the cricket ground in front of his home. He played county cricket for Surrey and in November 2007 signed a two-year deal to play for Kent. Azhar became a British citizen in 2011. This allowed him to play for Kent as an English-qualified player, further distancing himself from a recall to the Pakistan side. It was announced that Azhar would be playing for the Auckland Aces as one of their overseas professionals in the 2011/12 season. In the 2012 IPL auction, Mahmood was sold to Kings XI Punjab for $200,000, double his base price of $100,000. In 2015, he was signed by KKR as replacement for James Neesham and played a few matches but was dropped from the squad the very next season. He along with Isuru Udana set the highest 8th wicket partnership in all forms of T20s (120) during the inaugural SLPL league in 2012. International career Early days Azhar made his One-Day International debut against India in 1996 at Toronto Cricket Club, Toronto, but did not gain major recognition until his Test debut against South Africa the following year at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi when he hit a century and a half-century without being dismissed. He later went on to score two more centuries against the South Africans. He joined the Pakistani team primarily as a medium pacer but he has surprised many by his batting powers. His hard hitting but orthodox batting skills have also been extremely useful in the one-day game. Unlike most Pakistani pacers who are swing bowlers, he is a useful English-style seam bowler, who can chip in with wickets in time of need. In 2000, Lt-General Tauqir Zia,