Kirtivardhan Bhagwat Jha Azad is a former Indian cricketer who played 7 Tests and 25 ODIs for India. He is the son of a former Chief Minister of Bihar, Bhagwat Jha Azad. He was an aggressive batsman and bowled off-spin. Azad was not a classical off-spinner as he didn't give the ball much air, instead he bowled them at a quicker pace.

A surprise selection when he was first picked for India's tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1980/81, he made his ODI debut against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Benson & Hedges World Series Cup. He scored just 4 runs in that game.

He made his Test debut against New Zealand in Wellington. He scored 20 and 16 in the match as India lost the game by 62 runs. He played the first three Tests of the 6-match series during England's tour of India in 1981/82. However, he scored a total of 71 runs in 4 innings and was dropped from the side.

He was then selected for the 1983 World Cup, the most memorable aspect of his international career. His finest moment in the tournament came against England in the semi-final. He bowled a very tidy spell and picked the all important wicket of Ian Botham as India went on to win the game by 6 wickets.

In an exhibition game against Pakistan in 1983 in Delhi, the visitors made 197/3 in their 50 overs, with Azad picking up all the three wickets to fall. When India came out to bat, he scored an aggressive 71 not out to guide India to a thrilling one-wicket win. He smashed 7 sixes during his knock, including 3 successive sixes off medium pacer Jalaluddin.

He played three more Tests, one against Pakistan and two against the West Indies. He only made 28 runs in those 6 innings and was dropped from the Test team. He did play ODI cricket for one more year before he was omitted from the limited-overs team as well. In 1986, he was picked for Austral-Asia Cup but failed to achieve anything noticeable. After India lost the final to Pakistan by a solitary wicket, he was left out.

Despite not tasting success at the international level, Kirti Azad remained a pillar of strength for Delhi cricket. In 95 Ranji games, he gathered 4867 runs at an average of 47.72. In addition, he took 162 wickets, averaging 28.91. His highest first-class score of 215 came against Himachal Pradesh in 1985/86.

Like his father, he also entered politics and is currently serving his third term in the Lok Sabha. He is the Member of Parliament from Darbhanga, Bihar. Previously, he was an MLA from the Gole Market constituency in Delhi.