World No. 1 Simona Halep crashed out of the WTA Indian Wells tournament on Friday as she suffered a shocking 6-3, 6-0 upset loss to world No. 44 Naomi Osaka of Japan.
The 26-year-old Halep dropped to 18-2 on the season as she lasted just 64 minutes on the court with the unseeded Osaka.
Osaka punched her ticket to Sunday`s final where she will face fellow 20-year-old Daria Kasatkina, who stunned seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in an earlier semi-final.
May 5: Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar says he is interested in becoming India's bowling coach if there is an offer, asserting that he is capable of grooming "more aggressive, fast and talkative" pacers.
Akhtar expressed his willingness in an interview on social networking app 'Helo'.
Asked if he would like to be associated with the Indian bowling unit in future, he responded in the positive. India's current bowling is Bharat Arun.
"I will definitely. My job is to spread knowledge. What I have learned is knowledge and I will spread it," Akhtar said.
One of the fastest bowlers to have played the game, he added, "I will produce more aggressive, fast and more talkative bowlers than the current ones who will tell-off the batsmen in a way that you will enjoy a lot."
He said he has always wanted to share his knowledge among budding cricketers and that he is looking to produce more aggressive bowlers.
He also added that he would like to "coach" IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, for whom he has played in the cash-rich T20 league's inaugural edition.
The former pacer also spoke about his early interactions with Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar in the 1998 series.
"I had seen him but didn't know how big a name he was in India. In Chennai, I got to know that he was known as a god in India.
"Mind you, he is a very good friend of mine. In 1998, when I bowled as fast as I could, Indian public celebrated with me. I have a big fan following in India," Akhtar said.
Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.
The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.
"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.
"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.
Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.
He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.
The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.
On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.
The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.
Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.
Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.
"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.
Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.
"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.
The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.
Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.
Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.
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