SYDNEY: Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc will have surgery later this week on an ankle injury as he races the clock to be fit for the Ashes series against England, Cricket Australia said on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES: Maria Sharapova rose to number two in the rankings on Monday after her impressive title run at the BNP Paribas Open but says she is motivated much more by Grand Slam  glory than the prospect of regaining the top spot.

INABILITY TO PLAY SPIN

R Ashwin has taken a staggering 22 wickets and Ravindra Jadeja 17, leaving Australia bamboozled. For all their obsession with planning and strategising, it has become apparent that the Aussies had absolutely no strategy in place on how to tackle spin when they landed in India. It is clear that they didn't learn anything from the way England, in particular Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen batted their way to a rare series win on Indian soil. Australia overattacked even when the situation and the conditions demanded application, and paid the price.

NEW DELHI: Steven Smith hit 92 before he was stumped by Indian captain MS Dhoni off Pragyan Ojha on the third day of the third Test at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Saturday.

Scorecard

BASEL: Two-time defending champion Saina Nehwal booked her berth in the women's singles semifinals of the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at St. Jakobshalle on Friday.

CHANDIGARH: Shane Warne had his bunny in Daryl Cullinan. Glenn McGrath made life miserable for Mike Atherton. Ricky Ponting was traumatized by Indian offie Harbhajan Singh. If we go back in time, Geoffrey Boycott too fell repeatedly to Eknath Solkar.

NEW DELHI: David Warner and Ed Cowan justified their captain Michael Clarke's decision to bat first as Australia got off to quiet but confident start against India on the second day of the third Test at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Friday.

INDIAN WELLS: Rafael Nadal took another step in his return from injury with a convincing victory over a hurting Roger Federer on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters.

CHANDIGARH: Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane are two batsmen of different styles. While, Rahane is solid, technically correct and what one calls Test-match type of batsman, Tiwary is the adventurous one, who has all the shots in his repertoire to put the opposition to sword.

MELBOURNE: World champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull posted the fastest time in Friday's opening practice for this weekend's season-opening Australian Formula One  Grand Prix.