very good test batsman, aesthetically sumptuous, also his peak was seriously broad, from 2001 to 2006 he scored 4500 runs at 67, his issue was, one, that he had a technical flaw, camping on the front foot and trying to play around his pad, when he wasnt in form he was a sitting duck against in swingers, secondly he was mentally weak, he scored runs when he was in form, when the going was good, when it wasnt he played the blame game and threw his toys out the pram.
as is usually the case on this forum, indians who didnt even watch most of his career will come and try to play down his merits, but, it doesnt discount from the fact that he was a match winner in tests when on song, and 5 years is a very good stretch. his mental weakness and lack of consistency when out of form however means he pbly wouldnt make it to an all time pak xi. doesnt mean that he wasnt a seriously fine player, and seriously beautiful to watch when on song, something people seem to discount, which isnt surprising given as i said, his biggest detractors didnt even watch him that much.