How good was Imran? Legitimately should be in the top five 5 cricketers of all time.
A ridiculously good all-rounder who just got better and better . His formative period was 71-79. From 1980 onwards, he was just a superstar. The closer you study his career record from 1980 onwards, the more it leaves you in awe. He never really failed collectively in a test series with bat and ball since 1980 onwards till retirement.
An underrated pacemen, given that at his peak, he was the greatest bowler ever (check this out if you do not believe me:
Blogs: Anantha Narayanan: Test streaks: 52 and 27 matches long | Cricket Blogs | ESPN Cricinfo). He outperformed all of his peers in his bowling against the best batting side of the time, the WI. His bowling against India in 1983 was arguably the best fast bowling series performance. Won matches on his own singlehandedly against the big boys and was the first to show the true devastating potential of reverse swing (after Sarfraz discovered it)
And yes, despite what some of you may say, he was an underrated batsman. Yes, his career average was helped by not-outs, but even if you remove some to make it a normal range, he would end up with an average of 35 or so, which is around the Gus Logie/Gatting level. You forget what an average of 35 meant in the 80s when bowling standards were super high. And no, he didnt just become a batsman at the final stage of his career. In 1983 at his bowling height, when he broke his shin and couldnt bowl, he stayed in the team for two years as a pure batsmen, and did quite well.
And of course, as captain, he was one of the very best if not the best. Built his team, introduced an attacking mindset, made youngsters into worldclass cricketers, scored some landmark victories.
I cant think of anyone with the possible exception of Bradman who had as much impact on their team.