Ten years ago, there was not a single grass cricket field in Oman.
Even today, there are only two, side by side on a patch of ground next to a wadi, in a small town called Al Amerat, around 18kms from the main city centre of Muscat.
And yet, when ICC and Indian cricket officials breezed into the Oman Cricket Academy earlier this summer, they had no qualms about signing off on staging the opening match of their next World Cup there.
Oman will host six preliminary round matches at the T20 World Cup, spread across three nights on October 17, 19 and 21.
It will be far removed from the days when the only cricket played was on a cement wicket in the middle of some sand or gravel.
The sides who will be vying for the two qualification places from that group – Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, and hosts Oman – will find a well-appointed venue, in a gorgeous setting, awaiting them.
Some of the facilities were there before the World Cup came calling. There is an oval neighbouring the main field which is also ICC-accredited for international cricket, outdoor nets, as well as a seven-lane indoor net area.
Substantial upgrades have been set in motion by the decision to bring the World Cup to the country, too.
Given confirmation only came at the end of June, there has been a race against time to get the ground ready.
“When we first stepped in, the ground was like a clubhouse getting ready for a club tournament,” said Damodar Katti, an architectural design consultant who is one of the two project managers overseeing the upgrades.
“One Saturday morning I got a call saying, ‘This is where you need to work’.
“A document was given to us, which was our briefing, then together we master-planned this whole thing.
“When ICC came in and we presented it, we were so happy to hear from them that 80 per cent of their requirements we could capture in one go.
“The other 20 per cent were small modifications. The only concern we had was how to execute it within a short duration.”
Katti reckons the work required by the project would usually take five months to complete, but “we can actually complete it in 11 weeks, because of the effort which has gone in from all of us”.
He estimates that, with just under a month until the first ball, more than 75 per cent of the work is already complete.
Although he is an avid cricket fan, Katti has never previously worked on a project related to the sport.
At least his co-project manager, Rupak Udeshi, has some background in the subject, having served a similar role when the turf fields were first installed, back in 2012-13.
“I’ve been involved with cricket in Oman for more than three decades,” said Udeshi, another Indian national, who is the general manager of a Muscat-based construction company.
“The grounds for most of that time were mud grounds. These grounds, with the grass fields, were done by me.”
The wicket table is based on clay imported from Pakistan. The paspalum grass was grown in Barka, a farming town around an hour from Muscat, on the coast road which leads towards UAE.
The first major modification they attended to was to upgrade the floodlights to meet with the broadcast demands of staging the World Cup.
Thanks to the influence of Pankaj Khimji, one of Oman’s leading captains of industry who heads up cricket in the country, fittings for the floodlights were airfreighted in from Bangalore at short notice.
The pylons themselves are manufactured in Muscat. The floodlights now have illumination capacity of 3,100 lux, which far exceeds the minimum standard expected for broadcast at ICC events.
Temporary stands are in the process of being added. Four, holding 672 spectators each, will line the boundary, with a smaller one holding 320 is to be installed next to a DJ booth.
The other new structure is a stand at the northern end of the ground, for media and corporate customers, which is the only permanent stand to be added for the T20 World Cup. It will take the capacity for the matches to around 4,100.
Construction for the new north stand continued throughout the one-day series which have been taking place at the ground in recent weeks.
It meant the workers had to keep their wits about them when Jaskaran Malhotra was hitting six sixes in an over for United States earlier in the month – most in their general direction.
Malhotra’s feat was captured by a three-camera feed for an online stream. When the World Cup starts, there will be 39 cameras on site.
Despite all the challenges, those involved have been thrilled to be part of the project.
“It has been a journey we have cherished a lot,” Katti said.
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we feel very privileged to be part of it.
“We are excited, and want to help everything go smoothly to make it a successful event for Oman.”
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
Friday’s fixture
6.15pm: Al Wahda v Hatta
6.15pm: Al Dhafra v Ajman
9pm: Al Wasl v Baniyas
9pm: Fujairah v Sharjah
.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Honeymoonish
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
