Where did I say that he is a great player? Tell me frankly is there a single great player in our current side? The current side is a mediocre side which consist of average and few above average players. Our problem is that we expect super star like performances from these players and obviously get dissappointed every time. Why can’t we just admit that this is what we have right now until we get new talent who can hopefully be compared with the greats of past and present.
Afridi is a player who can compete with any bowler in our current side. As a bowling allrounder who can also bat he is an important player of our average side . Lets compare his ODI bowling average (post 2001) with some of our current bowlers
Shahid Afridi - Average 31 - Strike Rate 41
Mohammad Asif - Average 31 - Strike Rate 41
Rao Iftikhar - Average 31 - Strike Rate 38
Umar Gul - Average 27 - Strike Rate 32
Saeed Ajmal - Average 31 - Strike Rate 46
I don’t need to do any comparison regarding his T20 performance which is quite significant for our side.
Lastly don’t forget that he is aggresive as a captain and has got some leadership skills and under him team appears to play as a unit.
A bowling allrounder like Afridi who can also lead his side well therefore becomes an important member of this current Pakistan side.