I underachieved for Pakistan during my career: Azhar Mahmood

Former cricketer Azhar Mahmood has said that he "underachieved" for the national side during his career, which he said had its "highs and lows", Geo News reported. 

Mahmood represented Pakistan in 143 ODIs and 21 Tests between 1996 and 2007. He played his last Test at the age of 26 and ODI at 32.

"There were highs and lows. My good times were from 1997 to 2000, but then it went downhill," he said.

"I believe I underachieved for Pakistan as I couldn’t play much."

The former cricketer said that there were talks of making him captain before the side's tour to Singapore for the three-nation cup. However, he opted out of the role in favour of the much more experienced Waqar Younis.

Mahmood said that following Younis' appointment, his performances were not up to the mark and so he was eventually axed from the team. 

"There was Wasim Akram, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis and I so one fast bowler had to be benched. My performances became inconsistent and for some time I was benched." he said.

Furthermore, Mahmood said that playing for England, despite obtaining a citizenship, was never on his mind.

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"I can’t think of wearing any other country’s shirt after representing Pakistan," he said.

The all-rounder had played several cricket leagues around the world before hanging his boots in 2016. Since then he has had coaching stints with the national team as bowling coach.

"When I returned to Pakistan team as bowling coach, I started working with junior players and the same lot has now become the backbone of Pakistan’s bowling attack," he said.

Furthermore, he hailed the team's newer talent and advised team management to manage their workload carefully. 

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"The newer talent is equally good. Shaheen Afridi is one of the best and can become a top bowler. Mohammad Musa, Mohammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah are good but it is important to handle them carefully and use them wisely according to suited formats," he said.

When asked why Pakistan was not producing quality all-rounders the former cricketer said that one needed to give them time to develop.

"Razzaq didn’t become what he was overnight. He took time to develop his skills. Same was the case with me and similarly we need to give players a chance to enhance their skills," he said.

“Look how Shadab Khan has developed his skills. He has improved a lot and the way he has enhanced his abilities to play various shots gives youngsters a lesson to learn."

READ: India's ex-cricketer names Shadab Khan as PSL 2020's best player

Tegarding the menace of match-fixing, he said that Pakistan had the opportunity to settle the issue in the 90s but did not do so.

"We could have settled the issue in the 90s for good and if we had done that, we wouldn’t have been facing this today," he said. 

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