The Most Underrated XI of the 11 Seasons of IPL

#8 Azhar Mahmood

Not many remember Azhar Mahmood and his exploits in the Indian T20 league now.

Azhar Mahmood is a former international cricketer who represented Pakistan in Tests and ODIs. Starting his career as a medium pacer, Mahmood surprised one and all with his batting skills by smashing a couple of tons in his early international career.

Known for his exceptional bowling skills coupled with his batting prowess, Azhar Mahmood got his maiden IPL contract in 2012 from Kings XI Punjab to become the first Pakistani batsman to feature in IPL 5. He soon became a bowler who would chip in with regular wickets whenever needed to turn matches on their head. He impressed everyone by scoring 186 runs with the bat and picking up14 wickets in his maiden IPL season. Later the Pakistan all-rounder represented KKR in 2013 before rejoining KXIP in 2015.

In his considerably short IPL career of 23 matches, Azhar scored 388 runs at an average of 20 and scalped 29 wickets. These figures are by no mean underwhelming but not many remember Mahmood and his exploits in the Indian T20 league now.