Afghanistan hope their recent tour to Sri Lanka will count in their favour when they take on Ireland in a one-off Test at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi starting on Wednesday.
Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi feels the conditions in the island nation are similar to those in Abu Dhabi and that, combined with the training camps and matches they have played in the UAE as the home venue for their international games, will give them the edge.
“Abu Dhabi is our home venue for international cricket. We have had regular camps and played a lot of matches, and coming after the tour of Sri Lanka, I would like to think the advantage is on our side,” Shahidi said at a pre-match conference on Tuesday.
“We are aware Ireland haven’t played a Test for more than nine months and they had a long journey. They are still a tough side. We have been playing against each other in different formats a lot of times. It will be a good challenge, though, for both teams.”
Rashid Khan, who is recovering from a lower-back injury, is not part of the Test squad but is expected to be part of their three ODI and three T20I teams after the Test.
“We have a lot of experienced players who have excelled in both international and domestic games and we are well prepared and ready for any challenge,” Shahidi said.
“Obviously, we are fresh from the series against Sri Lanka that included a one-off Test and that would certainly play to our strengths. However, having said that, we still have to bring our A game to the table if we want to win against Ireland.”
The game was originally due to take place at the Zayed Cricket Stadium but was moved to the adjoining Tolerance Oval, which will host its first Test match after being approved by the ICC recently. It will become the 122nd cricket ground in the world to host men’s Test cricket.
Ireland’s red-ball captain Andrew Balbirnie believes his side are ready for the Test despite the late switch of venue.
“Preparations have been good. We were very fortunate to spend a week in The Sevens Stadium in Dubai before arriving in Abu Dhabi,” Balbirnie said.
“We were informed of the switch to the Tolerance Oval last week, but it is a really nice Oval. We've looked at some games that we've played there in the past and I'm sure it'll be a pretty good pitch. We can be pretty disciplined and have a good five days.
“Afghanistan obviously have quite good spinners in there, an attack they always have. I'm sure they'll want that to play a part in the Test match. However, Test cricket is a huge challenge with both bat and ball and getting the right combinations and hopefully we get to win this week.”
The last time the two met in a Test was in 2019 in Dehradun, India, a match that Afghanistan won by seven wickets.
Squads
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhail, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah, Nasir Jamal, Karim Janat, Khalil Gurbaz, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Nijat Masoud, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai and Naveed Zadran.
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Matthew Foster, Graham Hume, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Theo van Woerkom, Craig Young.
Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi – in pictures
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Kolarov (56')
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile
Company: Eighty6
Date started: October 2021
Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Hospitality
Size: 25 employees
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investment: $1 million
Investors: Seed funding, angel investors
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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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.”
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
