The DP World International League T20 will start on Friday, January 13, when Dubai Capitals face Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Dubai International Stadium.
The new competition is the first UAE-owned T20 franchise league involving leading international players – as well as some locally-based ones.
It will be played over the next four weeks across Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, with the final to be played on February 12.
What is it?
The ILT20 has six franchise teams, comprising 84 International and 24 UAE-based players, and a 34-match season.
The opening fixture will be preceded by a performance from Badshah, the Indian rap artist, and RnB star Jason Derulo.
Who are the teams?
The opening fixture pits together two sides that are sister teams of IPL franchises – Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders.
A third side, MI Emirates, is also affiliated to an IPL side – namely, Mumbai Indians.
The other three teams involved – Sharjah Warriors, Gulf Giants, and Desert Vipers – are independently-owned start-ups.
The Vipers are owned by Lancer Capital, whose portfolio of sports teams also includes Manchester United.
Who is playing?
A number of T20 World Cup winners – such as Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Evin Lewis and Sunil Narine – will be involved, while Marcus Stoinis is set to join at the conclusion of Australia’s Big Bash League.
The leading stars from India and Pakistan are absent, but Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan are part of the Dubai Capitals squad.
What UAE players are involved?
Each squad includes four UAE players, with two guaranteed a place in the starting XI for each fixture.
Leading lights of the national team such as Muhammed Waseem, Vriitya Aravind and Karthik Meiyappan, will likely be vying for a starting berth.
Promising young talents such as Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly and Aayan Khan will also be pushing for places.
Television
Matches will be screened live on CricLife in UAE and the Mena region.
Tickets
Tickets are available at https://dubai.platinumlist.net/ilt20/
Squads
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
Sunil Narine (captain), Andre Russell, Connor Esterhuizen, Lahiru Kumara, Charith Asalanka, Colin Ingram, Akeal Hosein, Paul Stirling, Zawar Farid, Kennar Lewis, Sabir Ali, Ali Khan, Brandon Glover, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer, Fahad Nawaz, Matiullah, Dananjaya de Silva, Marchant de Lange, Traveen Mathew
Desert Vipers
Colin Munro (captain), Wanindu Hasaranga, Alex Hales, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Tymal Mills, Matheesh Pathirana, Sherfane Rutherford, Rohan Mustafa, Shiraz Ahmed, Sheldon Cottrell, Ali Naseer, Adam Lyth, Dinesh Chandimal, Benny Howell, Mark Watt, Ruben Trumpelmann, Ronak Panoly, Jake Lintott, Gus Atkinson
Dubai Capitals
Rovman Powell (captain), Dasun Shanaka, Fabian Allen, Mujeeb Rahman, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Isuru Udana, Sikandar Raza, Hazratullah Zazai, Chirag Suri, Daniel Lawrence, Jash Giyanani, Niroshan Dickwella, Fred Klaassen, George Munsey, Hazrat Khan, Akif Raja, Joe Root, Robin Uthappa, Ravi Bopara, Yusuf Pathan, Ollie White
Gulf Giants
James Vince (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Jordan, Chris Lynn, Dominic Drakes, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Ollie Pope, Ashwant Valthapa, CP Rizwan, Sanchit Sharma, Aayan Khan, Qais Ahmed, Richard Gleeson, David Wiese, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Banton, Tom Helm, Gerhard Erasmus
MI Emirates
Kieron Pollard (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Trent Boult, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Nicholas Pooran, Imran Tahir, Will Smeed, Jordan Thompson, Zahir Khan, Muhammad Waseem, Samit Patel, Zahoor Khan, Brad Wheal, Bas de Leede, Andre Fletcher, Najibullah Zadran, Vriitya Aravind, Basil Hameed, Craig Overton, Tom Lammonby, Lorcan Tucker, Daniel Mouseley, McKenny Clarke
Sharjah Warriors
Moeen Ali (captain), Evin Lewis, Chris Woakes, Mohammed Nabi, Dawid Malan, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Benjamin, Joe Denly, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Karthik Meiyappan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Junaid Siddique, Noor Ahmed, Bilal Khan, Mark Deyal, Alishan Sharafu, Mohammed Jawad Ullah, Jamal Todd
Schedule
ARGENTINA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
Defenders: Juan Foyth, Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella, Nicolas Tagliafico, Ramiro Funes Mori, Renzo Saravia, Marcos Acuna, Milton Casco
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Roberto Pereyra, Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Di Maria
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala, Matias Suarez
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
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.”
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
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MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
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