Azhar Mahmood, the former Pakistan head coach, has stepped up to reveal his own experience of being snubbed of a coaching contract by the Indian owners of a CPL franchise who did not want a coach with Pakistani lineage. He warned that the same could happen with players, and the ECB should take adequate steps to see that this doesn’t happen.
Pakistan and players who belong to the nation or have their roots in their country have all been summoned for a common interest, as they together fight against a system where IPL-based owners often tend to sideline the players of Pakistani origin in several global franchise leagues around the world.
The investors of the game have largely belonged to India, and the same is now speculated to happen in The Hundred as well. The Hundred was sent into private ownership, and teams like MI London, Sunrisers Leeds, Manchester Super Giants and Southern Brave are all under at least partial ownership by IPL franchises.
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“We can’t have any Pakistani coach or player in our side,” Azhar Mahmood recalled mistreatment from an Indian-owned CPL franchise
Speaking of the same matter on Wisden Cricket Weekly, Azhar Mahmood, the former Pakistan head coach, had revealed that he himself has the experience to lose the coaching role for a CPL franchise, due to his Pakistani lineage.
“It happened four years ago straight away after Covid when the CPL was happening,” said Mahmood. “I was asked to coach in one of the franchises and later on I found out because my background as a Pakistani they said we can’t have any Pakistani coach or player in our side.”
He, though, did not reveal which team it was and whether they had Indian owners. Azhar Mahmood is a former Pakistani cricketer who played for them somewhere between 1996 and 2007 and was part of 164 international matches during this period.
“Everything is connected to the ecosystem of the IPL.” – Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood, other than playing for his country, also played in the County Championship for Surrey between 2002 and 2007, and had another stint with them between 2013 and 2016; however, this time as a local player. In 2011, he got British citizenship, which made him a domestically qualified player.
After a long time, he returned as Pakistan’s bowling coach in 2016 and served till 2019, when his contract was not renewed after the former had expired. He then took charge as Pakistan’s head coach for a brief stint after Jason Gillespie left the full-time role midway through 2025.
“It’s not the ideal situation for me,” said Azhar Mahmood. “I’m an English-qualified coach and I was coaching Surrey county cricket and then I went back to Pakistan for the last two years, and now because I was part of the Pakistan setup for the last two years, finding roles now is quite difficult.”
He also said that everything is connected to the ecosystem of the IPL, and there are franchises owned by IPL team owners in almost every league, like the SA20 and the MLC. “As a coach I find it tough to get into those teams which are owned by IPL and Indian owners. It’s difficult. The same thing goes for the players as well,” he concluded.
Mahmood asks the ECB to take measures against any such shadowing in The Hundred
As per the latest reports of Indian owners taking over four of the eight teams in The Hundred, a similar situation has been predicted where players of Pakistani origin might be shadowed by these teams.
He has, hence, pleaded with the England and Wales Cricket Board to see through such matters and deal with them carefully.
“There are a lot of Pakistani communities in England,” said Mahmood. “There is a great relationship between the England Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board, and you can see the people of England are crazy about cricket, coming from Pakistan. Hopefully the ECB will act on those things.”
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