Gilchrist, who is also the team's coach, said Mahmood (37) should be joining the side soon and "that would be nice".

Azhar Mahmood.u00a0

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On Wednesday when Gilchrist had been asked about the status of Mahmood, who was picked up by KXIP at this year's players' auction in joining the team, he had said, "It's up to the Government because he is not getting his visa at the moment.

"We bought a player we were told was available for every game and we are still unable to access our player. It's not in our hands."

Mahmood, who has featured in 21 Tests and 143 ODIs for Pakistan, was bought by KXIP for USD 200,000 but had not been able to play in the IPL as he had not been given the Indian visa.

Earlier, the team management had said Mahmood had himself taken a short break because of domestic reasons. The Punjab team are hoping to bolster their bowling and batting attack with Mahmood's presence as they are also without English pacer Stuart Broad, who has been ruled out because of injury.

If Mahmood plays for Punjab, he will be the only former Pakistani player to feature in this season's IPL.