That is what I'm alluding to as being overrated. He's simply being picked because he's Ben Stokes and he's got that natural talent rather than what he brings to a T20 side on an average day. The main reason he gets in is because he offers the flexibility of a top six batter that can bowl 4 overs of pace but he's not particularly good (in T20s) at either of those on a consistent basis.
He's picked because he can be potentially aggressive when he's been taking his time more and more these days in the shorter formats to get his eye in and tee off whilst his bowling is quite toothless in T20s with his lack of variations and predictability. Rajasthan in particular were smart to try him out as an opener who barely bowled towards the end of his stint with them as they figured out he was a deadweight in the middle order and as a death overs specialist/regular 4 over bowler. I've had him in previously at four or three as his best position but I don't think he offers anything with either bat or ball that can be covered by the rest of the team.
And that is why I think he is overrated. As I said earlier, teams may want him in for that flexibility but most teams do not need such flexibility on most days as they've always got five decent bowlers from number seven to eleven and an adequate sixth bowling option that can also offer something unique with either bat or ball in the top six. His batting returns when compared to what a specialist batter may offer more consistently are also not that worthy either as you've said with Brook or Livo being the better bet. In his current playing style, I simply do not think Stokes is the key player that a quality side requires as many believe him to be based on his exploits in the other two formats which is the reason for him being a tad overrated personally. If I had to pick similar players I'd take before him, I'd say Hardik, Dre Russ, Neesham, MMarsh are all clearly ahead whilst I'd debatably prefer Shanaka, Pretorius, Stoinis, Green or even Sam Curran ahead of him. This is still why I'm puzzled over his ODI retirement because unless he intends to play in the IPL next season, he's got much more value being an ODI player where his skillset is a lot more appealing as he can still offer ten overs of pace (it is a lot more important to have ten overs of consistency and an average outing from your fifth bowler in an ODI than a hot and cold one) and be a very good batting option in the top six compared to most other players.
For the record I don't think Stokes is a poor T20 player though, I believe that if he were to give it the same focus that Dre Russ gives it for a couple of years he could potentially hone and finetune the skills needed to be an absolute baller in that format. That he isn't in said position would be a statement on how difficult it is to translate skills across formats and be a star in all of them rather than any indictment of Stokes' own ability.
