IPL 2013: Azhar Mahmood is the fulcrum of Kings XI Punjab’s line-up

On a typical hot and humid Sunday at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Azhar Mahmood, the old warhorse and the emperor of T20 cricket, left the batsmen from Pune Warriors clueless with his bagful of tricks.

If Kings XI Punjab have to do well in the sixth edition of IPL, they need their talismanic all-rounder Azhar Mahmood to deliver the goods © PTI

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By Bharath Ramaraj
 
On a typical hot and humid Sunday at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Azhar Mahmood, the old warhorse and the emperor of T20 cricket, left the batsmen from Pune Warriors clueless with his bagful of tricks. The absorbing story wasn’t just about two wickets that he took, but the way he baited and teased the batsmen to ensnare them into making mistakes made for great viewing. In many ways, the wily old fox’s bowling prowess is akin to the filigree craftsmanship.
 
While facing Mahmood, a magician replete with a bagful of well-oiled tricks, the batsmen know, they can’t even allow for a minor slip in their levels of concentration. The Punjab think-tank have made an incisive move by plumping for Mahmood, as unlike many other glittering million dollar stars, the veteran is worth every penny that Punjab has spent on him.
 
At 38, Azhar Mahmood has matured as a complete cricketer. He is no more the wiry 22-year-old Azhar, who took the cricketing world by storm with three hundreds against the pillaging South Africans. During the cricketing season of 1997-98, he pummelled the much-vaunted South African pace attack with glorious flourishes of swivel pulls, debonair cuts, thundering drives; sometimes played on one knee, and by bouncing on his toes with an extravagant back-lift to loft South African pacers straight down the ground.
 
Mahmood’s awe-inspiring display of counterattacking innings of 132 at Durban in 1998, came at a time when the South Africans were smelling blood. But Mahmood’s Houdini act changed the scenario drastically. He stitched crucial partnerships with the lower-order, and made a sparkling century. The superb display of batsmanship made one wonder if his bat was manicured ; South African bowlers couldn’t find the edge of Mahmood’s bat. Azhar’s coup de main just took the wind out of South Africa’s sails, and Pakistan eked out a victory from jaws of defeat. In his younger days, Pakistan all-rounder’s game was built on the principle of ‘live by the sword and die by the sword’ approach.
 
Since Mahmood’s eye-catching hundreds against South Africa, his career has never taken off at the international arena. In Mahmood’s first eight Tests, he averaged a whopping 77.28 with three hundreds to his name. In his next 13 Tests, he scored 359 runs at an average of 15.60. It didn’t do justice to his potential. Those occasional sparks of brilliance were perpetually offset with him gifting away his wicket playing impetuous shots, and disappointing Pakistan’s frenzied fans.
 
Even with a ball in hand, Mahmood struggled to make an impression. He did well against the West Indies at Rawalpindi in 1997-98. In England at Lord’s in 2001, he pitched the ball up in favourable conditions, and was duly rewarded with four wickets. In the crucial Test at Hobart in 1999-00 with his brand of swing bowling, he dealt a couple of vital blows getting wickets of opener Greg Blewett (29) and Mark Waugh (0) when Australia were chasing an imposing 369 to win the match. It took a magnificent partnership between Langer and Gilchrist to steer Australia through choppy waters, and take them to a remarkable win. A few good performances though, just can’t mask the fact that he averaged over 35 as a bowler. In spite of the moustachioed all-rounder’s game being well suited to one-day cricket, even in that format, he flattered to deceive.
 
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also has to take a fair share of the blame for treating Mahmood shabbily. He was rarely ever given a decent run in the side. The last time he donned Pakistan colours was in the 2007 World Cup, where he was given just one opportunity against Ireland, but failed in that match. As Pakistan suffered an embarrassing exit in the first round of the 2007 World Cup, he was made the scapegoat for it, and was shown the door.
 
The high-impact player from Pakistan wasn’t deterred one bit by all those setbacks. By plying his trade in county cricket for more than a decade with Surrey and Kent, he has honed his skills, and has become a better cricketer. Nowadays, he comes across as a mentally relaxed cricketer. In 2011, he led Kent’s county batting averages, and took 23 wickets averaging 23.73. He single-handedly took Kent to the quarter-final of Friends Life T20 in 2011. His fielding had improved significantly. Mahmood has now added a few more strings to his bow. There was a time, when Mahmood played too many flashy shots. These days, he has mellowed down. He has curbed his natural instinct and now knows the importance of rotation of strike, and his defence has improved by leaps and bounds. Here is a cricketer who has ironed out some of the flaws, and knows his game inside-out.
 
With so many leagues burgeoning around the world, Mahmood is a hot property. In the last few years, he has turned out for various teams like Auckland Aces, Kent, Wayamba United, Cape Cobras, Sydney Thunders, Barisal Burners and for Kings XI Punjab.
 
If Kings XI Punjab have to do well in the sixth edition of IPL, they need their talismanic all-rounder to deliver the goods. They have started their campaign against an enervated Pune Warriors India side on a good note. But against the big guns of IPL like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, Punjab will look up to their star performer Mahmood to play a pivotal role to topple the opponents. With the kind of experience and the wealth of knowledge he has garnered by playing all over the globe, Mahmood can also be a mentor by supplementing the youthful exuberance in the Punjab set up. In short, he is the fulcrum of Punjab’s line-up.
 
Mahmood in every sense is a sui generis, and at the age when most of the cricketers have hung their boots, he is as fit as a fiddle. Mahmood, who is now a British citizen, still says he is open to playing for Pakistan, if need be. The sad part is that when Pakistan selectors mull over selecting the squad, there doesn’t seem to be any support for Mahmood’s return in the besieged outfit.
 
(Bharath Ramaraj, an MBA in marketing, eats, drinks and sleeps cricket. He has played at school and college-level, and now channelises his passion for the game by writing about it)