Yousuf back in top 10 in LG ICC Player Rankings

Pakistan batting legend Mohammad Yousuf has stormed back into the top 10 of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after showing outstanding form in the just-concluded ODI series against South Africa.

Yousuf, who won the player of the series award after scores of 53, 117, 58, 5 and 53, jumps 10 places to eighth, to back his second place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. However, Yousuf's efforts were not to prevent South Africa from clinching the series 3-2 in Lahore on Monday.

With Pakistan scheduled to play five ODIs against India in India next month, Yousuf will be aiming to continue his upward progress as just one rating point separates him from seventh-placed Ramnaresh Sarwan of the West Indies and 17 points from Australia's Mike Hussey in sixth position.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith is also rewarded for inspiring his team to a memorable series victory as his aggregate of 228 runs has helped him climb two places to fourth. Smith's upward movement means England's Kevin Pietersen and Hussey each drop a place to fifth and sixth respectively in the listing.

With South Africa to go head-to-head with New Zealand in a three-match ODI series next month, Smith has the chance to rise still further as only 16 points separates him from Australia's Andrew Symonds, in second place. Symonds, in common with his team-mates, is not due to play an ODI until December when Australia meets New Zealand in the Chappell-Hadlee Series.

Herschelle Gibbs, South Africa's another star performer in the ODI series with 214 runs, improves three places to 11th while Pakistan's Yunus Khan, after his series aggregate of 194 runs, has climbed 12 places to 36th position.

Captain Ricky Ponting tops the batting list and is part of an impressive Australian 1-2-3 as he is followed by Symonds and Matthew Hayden, the winner of the ODI Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards in September.

Besides the trio and sixth place Hussey, Australia also has Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist in the top 20. However, Clarke and Gilchrist drop two places each to 13th and 14th places respectively following Yousuf and Gibbs' improvements.

Others to drop because of Yousuf's rise include the West Indies duo of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. Gayle and Tendulkar slip one places each to ninth and 10th respectively while Chanderpaul drops out of top 10 to 12th place

However, not all news is good for the Proteas as Jacques Kallis has slipped in both the LG ICC Player Rankings for batsmen and all-rounders.

Kallis, who was the player of the Test series, scored just 113 runs and consequently fell four places to 16th. His four wickets in the series affected his all-rounder's ranking as well when he has dropped three places to fifth position.

Gayle, Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and England's Andrew Flintoff, benefitted from Kallis's misfortune to improve one place each to second, third and fourth respectively. Kallis's team-mate Shaun Pollock leads the list by a comfortable margin.

Pollock also leads the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers as the top 10 remains unchanged. Makhaya Ntini is the other South African in that elite group, in seventh place, and that group also includes three Australians (Nathan Bracken (third), Bradley Hogg (eighth) and Brett Lee (ninth)), three Sri Lankans (Chaminda Vaas (fourth), talismanic spinner Muthiah Muralidaran (fifth) and Farveez Maharoof (10th)) and two New Zealanders (Shane Bond (second) and Daniel Vettori sixth).

South Africa's Andre Nel is the only bowler inside the top 20 to lose ground after taking two wickets in as many matches. The fast bowler has fallen three places to 14th while Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has jumped four places to share 15th place with England's James Anderson.

Kenya's fast bowlers Peter Ongondo and Thomas Odoyo, along with Pakistani pacer Iftikhar Anjum, have achieved career-best ratings after impressive showings in their respective home series.

Ongondo has broken into the top 20 for the first time after claiming five wickets in the four ODIs he played against Canada and Bermuda while Odoyo, who won the Associate ODI Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards in September, climbs 11 places to 38th position having bagged five wickets in as many ODIs against the same opponents.

Anjum rises 18 places to 29th spot after finishing as the joint leading wicket-taker in the series with Ntini with 12 victims.

Australia leads South Africa by five rating points at the top of the LG ICC ODI Championship table. Pakistan is in fourth position, clear of fifth-placed India - its next opponents - only when the ratings are calculated to three decimal places.