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Led by Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, a group consisting six of the country’s leading cricketers flew out of Lahore for the South Indian city of Bangalore to feature in the Afro-Asia Cup event there.

Four of the Pakistani players are to star in today’s Twenty20 game at Bangalore that precedes the Afro Asia Cup — a three-match ODI series that would pit Asia against Africa from June 6-10.

While Pakistan’s premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf and medium pacer Mohammad Asif are on Asia’s ODI squad, new captain Shoaib Malik, all-rounder Shahid Afridi, wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and hard-hitting opener Imran Nazir would play in the Twenty20 game — the first one on Indian soil.

A good performance in the series would help Yousuf halt his slip down the ICC one-day rankings. He has dropped six places and is now ranked 19th overall in the ODI listings, compared to his impressive second place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

His compatriot Afridi is set to provide a thrilling start to the series as he is in good form both with the bat and ball. He has moved into the top 20 in the latest bowlersí rankings.Although now in 18th position, he still has a long way to go to catch South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock in top spot. Pollock is set to play in the Afro-Asia Cup as a specialist batsman following minor foot surgery.

Indian wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni can move up to third place in the ICC Rankings for ODI batsmen if he produces some solid performances during the series. He is currently lying in fourth spot, just five rating points behind Australia’s Mike Hussey after a good showing in the recent series against Bangladesh and if he continues that form over the next week, he will close the gap on Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting at the top of the log.

The series will be a chance for another great Asian batsman, Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka, to move back up the table having just fallen three places to seventh position.The Asia XI captain and Jayasuriya’s Sri Lanka team-mate Mahela Jayawardene will be keen to continue his upward trend, having shot up six places to 13th spot in the latest rankings. He is now not far behind his career-best rating which he set back in 2001 during a home series against the West Indies.Meanwhile, uncertainty prevails over the two matches with the met office forecasting thunder showers for today after a heavy spell of rains on Sunday night.
Source:The News