Afridi back to his best as Pakistan and India show signs of recovery

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is on his way back to his best following an excellent ODI series against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi.

The 27-year-old has moved into the top 20 of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers following a stellar performance in the second ODI at Sheikh Zayed Stadium against the ICC Cricket World Cup finalist.

He also moves up to seventh in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders having made a quick-fire 73 not out in the first ODI off just 34 balls. It is his highest ranking in that category since 2002 when he was twice briefly ranked sixth.

But while the latest rankings are good news for Afridi, his team-mate Mohammad Yousuf is not faring so well. Since February the 32-year-old middle-order batsman has slipped 13 places from sixth position to 19th.

Following the Sri Lanka series, fast bowler Mohammad Asif has moved up to 23rd place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. During the three-match series, he briefly touched on a career-best 21st position.

The 2-1 series win for Pakistan will have restored some confidence in the team after it failed to qualify for the Super Eight stage of the Cricket World Cup in March. Shoaib Malik's side has overtaken Sri Lanka into fourth place of the LG ICC ODI Championship and is now just two ratings point behind New Zealand.

India, too, is showing signs of recovery following a disappointing ICC Cricket World Cup for Rahul Dravid's team. It's now putting pressure on Sri Lanka in fifth spot.

Australia is still out in front, followed by South Africa in second position. The table remains quite congested further down with just nine ratings points separating the Black Caps in third and England in seventh spot.

India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed some good form in his team's recent ODI series with Bangladesh and as a result has moved up one place to fourth in the player rankings for ODI batsmen.

There were also moves in the right direction for Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene (up six places to 13th position), Matthew Hayden of Australia who is up one place to fifth spot which he now shares with West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.

England's Kevin Pietersen still occupies top spot with Australia captain Ricky Ponting in second and team-mate Mike Hussey in third place.

Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya has slipped three places from his Cricket World Cup peak of fourth while there are career-best positions in the batting rankings for Chamara Silva (up 15 places to 58th spot) and Faveez Maharoof (up 16 to 88th) of Sri Lanka.

The all-rounders' ranking is still topped by Shaun Pollock of South Africa with team-mate Jacques Kallis in second and West Indies favourite Chris Gayle third.