Serena makes plans for July return

WASHINGTON: Serena Williams, recovering from the removal of a blood clot in her lung as well as a nagging foot injury, plans to play tennis in July for the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis.

The nine-team US league, which will stage a 36th season from July 4-24, announced on Thursday that Williams is scheduled to play in Washington on July 7 against the Boston Lobsters and when the Kastles visit Sacramento on July 9.

The reigning Wimbledon champion had said after her surgery for a blood clot that travelled from a leg into her lungs that she was hopeful of a summer return, but was unsure exactly when she might be back on the court.

The former world number one, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, would need to be ready by June 20 to defend her Wimbledon title. The women's final is set for July 2.

Williams has not played a top-level match since last year's Wimbledon final after cutting her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant last July.

Williams suffered a pulmonary embolism and underwent an emergency operation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles last week, a health scare she called "the scariest moment in my life".

"Luckily enough, I was able to catch it soon enough that my career won't be affected," Williams told NBC on Wednesday. "I love tennis and now more than anything I have so much to look forward to just playing.

"I really just want to come back and do well."

Venus Williams, Serena's elder sister and a five-time Wimbledon winner who has seven Grand Slam titles overall, plans to play for the Kastles on July 5 against visiting Kansas City despite being sidelined currently with an injury.

Venus Williams withdrew from the Australian Open with a right hip injury and has not played since, unable to defend her only titles from 2010 last month at Dubai and Acapulco.

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Federer primed for another run at top spot

INDIAN WELLS: Roger Federer says his priority in the coming months is to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, but before he can achieve that the Swiss star knows he has to start winning Grand Slam titles again.

"I have really been playing well the last six months and that is what I look at, not that I didn't make it to the final of the last four Grand Slams," Federer said.

Second-seeded Federer is fully primed for his first match on the weekend after being awarded a first-round bye at the $9 million Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters Series tournament.

The 16-time Grand Slam winner lost in the final of his last tournament to Novak Djokovic in Dubai. Federer has only played three tournaments this year and hasn't made the final of the last four Grand Slams.

That is a far cry from 2006-2007 when he won six of eight Grand Slam events. Djokovic has been especially troublesome for Federer of late, beating Federer in the Australian Open final in January.

"It is part of my big goal this year to get back to No. 1 because I like being world No. 1 more than No. 2," said the three-time Indian Wells champion, who held the top ranking for 285 weeks.

"I was happy about the way I played in Dubai. I won four in a row. I didn't play my best against Novak. Even though I lost the finals, I haven't thought about that match for two weeks."

Federer has reached two finals in three tournaments this year, winning in Doha. This is the first time in eight years Federer hasn't held a Grand Slam title. He has 14 wins this year and just two defeats, both losses being to Serbia's Djokovic.

Clearly if he is to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, Federer is going to have to figure out a way to solve Djokovic, who is seeded third at Indian Wells.

Federer and Djokovic are in the bottom half of the 96-player men's draw and so could be headed for a semi-final showdown.

"He is in a good spell right now," Federer said of Djokovic. "He is playing well so. It will be interesting to see how he plays here."

Federer was relaxed and calm Thursday as he met with reporters for the first time since arriving in Indian Wells.

He said he tries not to dwell on defeats even if someone has his number like Djokovic obviously does.

"Losing doesn't rattle me much," Federer said. "For me after a loss it is time to move on. Of course, it is difficult when you lose but you have to move on.

"It is OK to look at a lost match but I prefer to get over it as quickly as possible because this is an important time of the season."

Federer hasn't played as much at this point in the season compared to previous years but he says he is in a good frame of mind.

"I am confident," he said. "I played three tournaments and it is a good start. I don't have any injuries and I am fresh.

"I am now going into an important stretch of the season."

Federer says one aspect he appreciates more about competing in the California desert is the relaxing pace of life in the laid-back retirement community.

"I remember coming here (in 1999) and I was always being mistaken for other players so I have come a long way," Federer said.

"I have had some good years here at Indian Wells. At first I thought it was a bit slow here. As a teenager I thought I needed a bit more New York and London atmosphere. But now it is nice to get a calm tournament before going to Europe and so forth."

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I faced better batsmen than Sehwag: Holding

NEW DELHI: Virender Sehwag might be one of the most destructive batsman in modern day cricket, but former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding says he played against better batsmen than the India opener during his playing days.

"I think I came up against better batsmen than Sehwag ever can be. I think people like Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas - I have gone up against better batsman than Sehwag. Sehwag hammers the ball all around, though his technique is a bit ordinary," Holding said.

Holding said if he was bowling to Sehwag, he would never give him room outside the off-stump.

"He loves the ball outside his off stump. If I was to bowl at Sehwag, he would not see a ball outside his off stump unless he was sleeping and dreaming.

"You would see every ball in line with his body and that is how you've got to bowl to Sehwag. Don't give him room outside his off-stump for him to extend those arms and we'll see how he scores. I am not saying that he will not score runs at all but he certainly won't score as fluently as he is scoring now," the legendary pacer, who has 249 wickets from 60 Tests and 142 from 102 ODIs, said.

Talking about the ongoing World Cup, Holding admitted that pitches for the tournament are heavily in favour of the batsmen, but added that if one has the pace, he can be successful on any surface.

"If you have pace, you can be successful as we have seen," he was quoted as saying by pakpassion.com.

"I don't think I would have been too worried about bowling on them. I went to India in 1983. I got thirty wickets in five Test matches. If you have pace, you can be successful," Holding corroborated his claim.

About India's chances in the World Cup, he reckoned that the only way they can win the title is by chasing.

"India have fantastic batting, and I think their best chance of winning is to chase targets, not to set targets. That's because their bowling is not the type of bowling that's going to prevent teams from getting big targets as we saw when they made 338 (against England)."

According to him, Australia and South Africa are the other teams to watch for in the tournament.

Asked about the ICC's decision to limit the number of teams from the next World Cup to 10, Holding said the game's apex body would do well to keep at least two associate members in megaevent.

"I do not agree with four associate teams playing in the World Cup. I said that in 2007 but people ridiculed me. What you need to do is reward the two that go into the finals of their tournament. No more than that. But you can't take them all out as the ICC have now done for the next World Cup. I think that's ridiculous."

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Harbhajan's form a worry for India

NEW DELHI: After two scratchy wins over minnows Ireland and the Netherlands, and their inability to force a win over England despite rustling up a total of 338, India's halo as World Cup favourites has dimmed considerably.

Fans are already suffering from frayed nerves, critics have kept their knives sheathed out and the media has brought down expectancy quotient by several notches.

The authority of a side boasting champion class is lacking. There are obvious weaknesses in some areas, especially fielding and bowling. Then, the logic behind team composition has also come under the scanner. Are India playing the best possible XI? Are they sure about their game plan? Is the strategy working?

Skipper MS Dhoni's answers to some vexed questions have not really silenced the skeptics. But what has added weight to growing disenchantment is the performance of the batsmen who made heavy weather of modest targets against Ireland and the Netherlands.

But is the situation really so bad that desperate measures need to be applied at once? Can't we believe Dhoni when he says his team would peak at the right moment in the World Cup? Well, Dhoni's positivism has not been matched by the show on the turf. But since every cloud has a silver lining, let's look out for some.

Coming to India's batting woes, very clearly the absence of a challenging environment caused a lowering of guard in recent games. That's why Sachin Tendulkar, of all batsmen, lost patience and committed hara-kiri against both Ireland and the Dutch. Virender Sehwag played like he does. But his recent ODI record suggests that he would have been just a bit more restrained if he was playing against one of the major teams.

There is a strong chance that we will see a slightly more responsible Sehwag against South Africa and West Indies. Gautam Gambhir has been a bit unlucky with his dismissals but can hope to ride on the law of averages now. Of course, Yuvraj Singh is proving to be the all-rounder India were always looking for. His confidence in the stratosphere, Yuvraj can be the engine to India's flight.

About Harbhajan Singh's lack of wickets, Dhoni had an interesting theory: "Teams are simply blocking him out, not wanting to give him wickets."

This is something Sourav Ganguly had also said on TV a few days back. This line of thinking has merit as teams do tend to be defensive against top bowlers. But Harbhajan will have to step up when bigger teams confront India. The good thing with the feisty sardar is that he loves a good scrap and may show his true colours when it's crunch time.

India also have R Ashwin up their sleeves. He has not been played despite a clamour for his inclusion in the XI. But, it may prove to be a blessing in disguise for India for his novelty value will be high as and when he is unleashed.

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Jayawardene dismisses Dilshan's dope rumour

Sri Lanka vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene on Wednesday dismissed media reports that star batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan has failed a dope test conducted during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011.

Addressing a press conference one the eve of their group A match against Zimbabwe on Thursday, Jayawardene said there was no truth in the story as Dilshan was not among the Sri Lankan players who gave sample for dope tests.

"We have had two players tested. Dilshan is not one of them. The players are Ajantha Mendis and Chamara Silva. I am not too sure about where this story has come from but there is no truth in it," Jayawardene told reporters ahead of Sri Lanka's match against Zimbabwe.

Early in the day, the media circle was abuzz with the story that Dilshan has failed a dope test conducted by the International Cricket Council.
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Bangladesh tense but ready for England, says Shakib

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has admitted his team-mates were tense ahead of Friday's crucial World Cup match against England, but said the task was not beyond them.

The Tigers, who have just one win from three games, will almost certainly drop out of the race for the quarter-finals from Group B if they lose the day-night game at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.

"The boys are tense, but they are also confident that they can put up a good show," said Shakib.

"We have prepared well for the game. We have worked hard in the last few days. I have tried to take the pressure on myself, so it eases the pressure on them.

"I think we have a very good chance in this match. We have to play good, positive hard cricket. If we play our best cricket, we can beat any side in the world."

Bangladesh, who began the tournament ranked eighth in one-day cricket, have played uninspiring cricket so far, leaving millions of their fans angry and frustrated.

The Tigers crashed to their lowest one-day total of 58 against the West Indies in Dhaka last Friday, losing the game by nine wickets in the first session itself.

Shakib, whose home was attacked by angry fans after the match, was at a loss to describe the feeling after the embarrassing defeat.

"I can't really put a finger on what happened, except that we batted poorly," the captain said.

"Hopefully, such a performance happens only once in a lifetime. We have learnt our lessons."

Shakib said Bangladesh had not batted well in the tournament, putting the side in a precarious position.

Batting form deserted the tournament co-hosts after a brave, but unsuccessful chase of India's 370-4 in the opening match when they replied with 283-9.

They were shot out for 205 by Ireland, fought back to restrict the non-Test nation for 178 under the Dhaka lights, before hitting a new low against the West Indies.

Opener Tamim Iqbal and captain Shakib Al Hasan are the only batsmen to score half-centuries in the tournament.

The loss to the West Indies saw angry reaction from fans and local media, with newspapers blaming "arrogant" Shakib for the poor show so far.

But the captain played down the media criticism and fans' behaviour after stones were thrown at the West Indies and Bangladesh team buses last Friday.

"The good thing is that we try not to read newspapers, or worry what is written in them," said Shakib.

"How do I describe the crowd? When we play well, they cheer us. When we do badly, they abuse us. It will be better not to think of the crowd."

England, with five points from four games, will book an early ticket to the quarter-finals if they beat Bangladesh and the West Indies down Ireland in Mohali earlier on Friday.

But the tourists will take the field without the injured duo of Kevin Pietersen and fast bowler Stuart Broad, who have been replaced by Eoin Morgan and Chris Tremlett.

"England will obviously miss Pietersen and Broad," said Shakib. "But Morgan is a very good player who has done very well against us in the past.

"But we have to guard against all the players and do our home work well."
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Pakistan still puzzled by Kamran conundrum

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that blundering wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal will not be made a scapegoat and fans should expect a traditional World Cup rollercoaster ride.

The 29-year-old Akmal has endured a blitz of criticism after his calamitous performance against New Zealand where two horror blunders allowed Ross Taylor to escape on nought and eight before the batsman smashed an unbeaten 131.

New Zealand's 110-run win was Pakistan's first defeat in the tournament and prompted calls for Akmal's younger brother Umar to be handed the gloves for the remaining group games against Zimbabwe and Australia.

That would leave Kamran to play as a specialist batsman, even being promoted to open.

Umar, who kept wicket in three Twenty20 internationals and a one-dayer last year, was seen practising keeping in the team's net session on Thursday.

"Kamran has done a lot of hard work for this World Cup, but he has not lived up to that level, and we suffered a lot after he couldn't perform," said Afridi.

His lapses allowed New Zealand to post a challenging 302-7 in Tuesday's game, after mustering a whopping 100 runs off the last five overs, after struggling at 202-4 in 45 overs.

Afridi stressed that Pakistan, who face Zimbabwe on Monday, should not panic as they are still well-placed to reach the quarter-finals.

"Kamran has won lots of matches for Pakistan in the past, he is a very talented cricketer, and I think we are at a stage where we shouldn't panic. There are other players who are not performing - it's not only Kamran.

"We need to back them. If we make several changes we can face problems in future matches, so we will see if Kamran plays the next game or not. From my side, I think we should give Kamran confidence.

"He is a good player and we expect that he will do better."

Afridi urged fans back home to forget the defeat to New Zealand and that following Pakistan is always a nerve-racking affair.

"Because of the way we have batted, bowled and fielded everyone should get angry but then we have to forget this anger and we should have confidence for the next match," said the captain.

"Everyone realises that we have made big mistakes but if you look at Pakistan cricket over the last 50-60 years it's quite normal for our team."

Afridi said Pakistan still need to solve their problems with their opening pair.

"We are here with perfect openers and I don't think we can take a chance on Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez. But we might open with Kamran, that's one of the options," said Afridi.

Pakistan's best opening partnership in four matches was just 28 against Sri Lanka.
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India still World Cup favourites: Clarke

BANGALORE: India are still favourites to win the World Cup according to Australia's Michael Clarke despite being held to a tie by England and pushed hard before beating Ireland in the group stage.

Co-hosts India have yet to lose in this World Cup as indeed do defending champions Australia, although they had to make-do with a no-result washout against Sri Lanka last weekend.

India and Australia have been kept apart in a World Cup first round where the 14 competing teams are split into two pools of seven, with the top four in each going through to the quarterfinals.

But that hasn't stopped Australia vice-captain Clarke keeping a close eye on India's progress.

"India are still the favourites because they are playing games in their home conditions, I think they have got a very strong squad," said Clarke.

"India playing at home are always favourites."

Australia, bidding for a fourth straight World Cup title and fifth in all, have not lost a match at the tournament since 1999 but top-order batsman Clarke was cautious as to whether they could maintain that unbeaten run.

"We are happy with the way we have been playing but it is a long, long way to go in the tournament."

Australia have welcomed experienced Michael Hussey into their squad after the batsman, left out on account of a hamstring problem from which he has now recovered, was called-up to replace fast bowler Doug Bollinger.

"Having a left-hander in the squad will surely help," Clarke said of Hussey. "You have to be experienced no matter what the conditions are.

"He has played a lot of cricket in the subcontinent and he is going to play a huge part (in the World Cup).

"So far the guys in the middle-order haven't had much of an opportunity but this is just the start of the tournament and experience in the middle-order will surely help as the tournament goes on.

"In the past he has shown us he can go out and win games on his own in any form of the game. So I am very confident that having Hussey around is going to help us."

By the time Australia face Kenya at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday it will be a week since they took the field for their rain-affected clash against Sri Lanka.

However, Clarke insisted having time to spend honing your game was always a plus point when in India.

"I think the most important thing while playing in the subcontinent is to improve your skill to play in these conditions.

"As the tournament goes on I think spin is going to play an important part and obviously we have seen reverse-swing as well. I think, as a batsman, when you get to a training session you are working on those sorts of things."

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India hope to trade on Kirsten's inside knowledge

NAGPUR: India will be relying on South African coach Gary Kirsten for crucial inside knowledge when the two sides meet in the World Cup on Saturday.

India are virtually assured of a quarterfinal berth ahead of their blockbuster Group B clash, but Kirsten is aware of the dangers posed by his compatriots, still smarting from their six-run loss to England.

All the Indian players have lauded Kirsten's role in improving the dressing-room atmosphere, with record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar saying the team owed their successes to the coach.

"Gary has been instrumental in making our batters play plenty of deliveries in the practice session. During net practice, he himself bowls thousands and thousands of balls," said Tendulkar.

"He has been an important member of the Indian squad along with the other support staff. I have enjoyed my game under him. He is really putting in a lot of effort."

Indian cricket has been improving since former Proteas opener Kirsten took over in 2007 after a turbulent era under Australian coach Greg Chappell.

The South African was appointed at a time when fans in the cricket-crazy nation were fast losing faith in the team, especially after a humiliating first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup under Chappell.

It is a tribute to Kirsten's skill and professionalism that India has been improving each year, eventually securing the number-one ranking in Tests and number two in one-day internationals.

India became a formidable force both at home and away under Kirsten, having recently drawn for the first time a tough three-Test series in South Africa and been involved in a close one-day series against the same opposition.

"They have got very different ideas and very different thinking. I have enjoyed bringing the Indian style and a South African influence and connecting the two," Kirsten had said before the World Cup.

"It is important that they know I'm there and that I will work as hard as possible on helping them prepare for games.

"After all it is the player who needs to be clear in his head in the pressure situation during game time. He can't call to the coach to think for him."

As Kirsten is unlikely to continue as coach after the World Cup due to family commitments, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team will be determined to cap his stint with a major success.

"Apart from having good players in the side, he (Kirsten) was the one thing, you can say the best thing that happened to Indian cricket," said Dhoni.

"He has given the Indian team whatever he could, the best he could, and of course it was a pleasure to have him in the side."

India's best under a foreign coach at the World Cup came in 2003 when former New Zealand captain John Wright played a key role in the team's march to the final in South Africa with Sourav Ganguly as captain.

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Dutch pressure game will help India: Dhoni

NEW DELHI: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team had a good workout against the Netherlands and the pressure they faced would stand them in good stead for tougher World Cup challenges ahead.

India laboured to a five-wicket win at New Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla stadium after bowling the Dutch out cheaply for 189, virtually sealing their place in the quarterfinals.

Openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar tore into the Dutch bowling, reaching 69 in the eighth over before Sehwag was the first to go, sparking a mini-collapse that reduced India to 99/4.

But Dhoni said losing wickets meant batsmen lower down the order, including Yuvraj Singh (51 not out) had enjoyed crucial time in the middle ahead of matches against more powerful nations.

It was a almost a carbon copy of the win against Ireland, where India also found themselves in trouble at 100-4 in reply to a modest total of 207, with Yuvraj also hitting a half-century in that game.

"Any side you're playing, if you're 100/4 you are under a bit of pressure, especially if the wickets are slow and low and if you are expected to win easily, so that was a decent win for us," Dhoni said after Wednesday's victory against the Dutch.

"It's a good experience to have because you're all of a sudden in the quarterfinals or against a stronger side," he added.

"You don't want your middle order, your lower middle order, to get exposed. It's good that most of the batsmen have got a decent hit in the games they have played."

The skipper said the quick start when batting had been a bid to improve their run rate.

"When you're playing some of the so-called weaker sides in the world you try to get as many runs as possible with the new ball and when you're trying to do that your batsmen play aggressive shots and it's not all the time you'll be successful," he said.

Dhoni said it was important to take wickets with the new ball as a way of slowing the opposition but backed his bowlers to perform.

India have struggled to force early breakthroughs in their matches so far with the exception of the Ireland game, where paceman Zaheer Khan took two early wickets.

"I think we've got quite a few talented bowlers who can really swing the ball and even if there's no swing for them they can bowl a tight line and get the batsmen out."

And the skipper said off-spinner Harbhajan Singh would come into his own as the tournament progressed. So far he has taken just two wickets in four matches.

"I think as the tournament heats up in the coming few games you'll see a different Harbhajan Singh," adding that better opponents would bring out the best in him.

Dhoni said it was important for the team to pick up momentum with matches against South Africa and the West Indies to come before the quarterfinals.

"You may have a bad day or one individual has a brilliant day and you may be out of the tournament so I think you have to be at your best, especially in that part of the tournament."

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