Pakistan's Most Important Player at the 2015 Cricket World Cup: Shahid Afridi

With Pakistan's top-order misfiring and their premier spinner absent, much will rest on the shoulders of Shahid Afridi at the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Inconsistent he may be but Pakistan's veteran all-rounder can still change a game with both bat and ball when in the mood.

Nowhere was that more apparent than in Pakistan's recent loss to New Zealand. While the rest of his side were finding increasingly ridiculous ways of getting out, Afridi was putting on a hitting masterclass.

His 67 from 29 balls may not have saved the game for Pakistan but it did show that the 34-year-old looks in good touch ahead of this year's 50-over showpiece.

After a lean spell midway through 2014 when he failed to pass 17 in seven successive innings, Pakistan's talisman has found form, scoring three fifties in the seven innings that followed.

Likely to be just as vital at the World Cup as his big-hitting batting will be his exploits with the ball.

With crackerjack spinner Saeed Ajmal and fellow off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez both missing from Pakistan’s World Cup squad, Afridi's bowling will take on even more importance.

Bowling Down Under should hold no fears, though, as Afridi's fast leggies have brought him plenty of success. He has 41 wickets at an average of 29.85 in Australia with an economy rate of 4.45. Another seven wickets at his World Cup swansong will take him past the 400 mark.

Despite being seventh in the ICC one-day rankings, Afridi appears bullish about his team's chances ahead of this year's competition.

Speaking at a press conference before his side's warm-up against Bangladesh, via the Times of India, Afridi told reporters, “We have the ability to surprise any team on our day. We have the confidence that we are the best team and Inshallah we will give our best."

Given that Misbah-ul-Haq's side have lost 10 of their last 12 ODIs, even the most ardent Pakistani fan may struggle to match Afridi's confidence.

The batting looked ragged in the two-match ODI series against New Zealand but showed a marked improvement in their morale boosting warm-up win against England. In Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood and Afridi, Pakistan have an extremely dangerous lower middle-order.

The bowlers, too, looked more on the ball in Sydney on Wednesday.

The format of the World Cup will help teams that can peak at the right time. Pakistan have work to do but appear to be moving in the right direction. A successful tournament is by no means impossible, especially if Afridi can perform with both bat and ball.

One man who certainly thinks Afridi is still capable of having a major impact on the competition is Stephen Fleming. In a column for Wisden India, the former New Zealand skipper wrote:

“When Afridi is on his game he can drag the team along almost single-handedly. His bowling has been consistently excellent and against New Zealand late last year he also added surprising maturity to his long-forgotten batting while still retaining his devastating ability to hit hard and long.”

The words maturity and Shahid Afridi aren't often found in the same sentence. Fleming's view echoes that of former batting coach Grant Flower.

Shortly after taking over the role, the Zimbabwean told Pakistan Today that he was “looking forward to convincing talented batsmen like Umar Akmal and Afridi to leave their habit of playing in a hurry and ask them to use their batting skills more significantly for the team.”

In Afridi's case, it seems that the penny has dropped.

The 34-year-old certainly has the pedigree to deliver in a major tournament. Afridi capped a fine 2009 World Twenty20 with a man-of-the-match performance in the final against Sri Lanka.

A repeat of those heroics may be too much for ask for. A timely cameo or two could yet send Pakistan on the road to World Cup glory.

Stats courtesy of ESPN Cricinfo and Howstat.