SHARJAH // Captain Misbah-ul-Haq may finally give a second spinner a chance as Pakistan look for the right combination to level the series against Sri Lanka in the third Test, which begins today on a flat Sharjah pitch.
“You get spin on the pitches here as far as Test cricket goes,” Misbah, who has a say in the selection of the playing XI, said yesterday. “It’s a do-or-die situation for us and we have to level the series. There is no other option.”
Pakistan and Misbah also thought the second-Test pitch in Dubai last week would take spin, but they went with only Saeed Ajmal and the pitch hardly broke. Sri Lanka registered their biggest victory in Tests against Pakistan in winning by nine wickets to take a 1-0 lead.
In their five previous Tests at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Pakistan had two wins over the West Indies in 2002, twice lost to Australia by an innings in the same year and drew with Sri Lanka in 2011. “Out of five matches, four have produced results so you can’t say that the pitch doesn’t produce results,” Misbah said.
Bringing in left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman also could be expedient as fast bowler Bilawal Bhatti has been nursing a hamstring injury since bowling in the first innings of the second Test.
Misbah is unlikely to tinker with his top order batsmen despite Ahmed Shehzad, Khurram Manzoor and Mohammad Hafeez struggling against the Sri Lanka seamers – especially with the new ball. The three have each scored a half century in the series and have the backing of their captain.
“Two innings can go bad for anyone,” Misbah said. “The new ball is always difficult, so we are not worried about that very much.”
While Pakistan have had a lot of work and reflection after the heavy defeat on Sunday, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews just wants that his teammates do not get complacent and look to win again.
Mathews has led from the front with his match-saving career-best unbeaten 157 in the first Test, while Mahela Jayawardene notched his 32nd Test century, with three stitches in his left hand, to set the stage for the big win in the second.
All three seamers have bowled well within their limits to trouble Pakistan batsmen with their swing.
“We can’t be complacent because they are a very good unit and they can come back and come back hard,” Mathews said.
Mathews said Pakistan’s confusion over the state of the pitches in the UAE has helped Sri Lanka as his seamers have taken advantage.
“Having confusion, it’s always good for us,” Mathews said. “There was a lot of help for the seamers [in Dubai] and our seamers bowled better than their seamers, so we got more wickets than them.”
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have announced they will tour Bangladesh later this month following a security assessment in the violence-plagued country, cricket board officials said.
“We are very positive about playing in Bangladesh,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said. “We look forward to playing there.”
Confirmation that the tour is going ahead comes after SLC vice president Mohan de Silva and the board’s former chief executive Ajith Jayasekera travelled to Bangladesh earlier this week.
Bangladesh has been rocked by some of the deadliest political violence in its history in recent weeks, with the opposition trying to derail a January 5 general election, which was marred by boycotts.
The violence has also prompted speculation that the 50-over Asia Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup, which are both scheduled to be hosted by Bangladesh in the next few months, could be shifted.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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