India took a firm grip on the fifth and final Test match after dominating England on Day 1 at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat, England started well before suffering what has become an all-too familiar collapse in a series where India have already secured an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Ben Stokes' side looked set for a decent first-innings total before capitulating from 175-3 to 218 all out as India's spinners once again wreaked havoc, with Kuldeep Yadav (5-72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4-51) taking nine wickets between them. The tourists lost their last eight wickets for 81 runs and at one stage fell to a disastrous 5-8 in 37 deliveries.
Only opener Zak Crawley (79) reached his half-century while Joe Root (26), Jonny Bairstow (29) and Ben Stokes (nought) were all out in a 12-ball spell without a single run being added.
Any hopes that England might fight back with the ball were blown away by Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal who blazed their way to a century partnership with runs coming at more than five an over.
Jaiswal was eventually stumped off Shoaib Bashir for 57, but captain Rohit remained unbeaten on 52 at the close alongside Shubman Gill (22 not out) with India just 83 behind England with nine first innings wickets left.
“Yeah, a challenging day,” said England batting coach Marcus Trescothick on TNT Sports. “We had some good moments – we batted well up until lunch when the ball was swinging around and nipped around more than we expected it to.
“Zak Crawley batted very well to get his score but we just didn't get enough partnerships together in the middle, to put the total on the board. Winning the toss was important for us, but it is what it is – we've got to come back better tomorrow.”
Earlier, Stokes' decision to bat first on a belter of a track was on the expected lines and England got off to a strong start with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett combining in an opening stand of 64.
India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah troubled both batters with the moving ball but a breakthrough eluded the hosts until Kuldeep was pressed into the attack.
The left-arm wrist-spinner struck in his first over when Gill pulled off a spectacular catch to dismiss Duckett for 27 via a leading edge.
Crawley brought up his fifty but Ollie Pope (11) departed on the stroke of lunch. The England vice captain could not read Kuldeep's googly and was so far down the track that wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel had all the time in the world to stump him.
Kuldeep dismissed Crawley with a flighted delivery that landed outside the off-stump, sneaked through the bat-pad gap and pegged back the leg-stump.
“He has played really well in this series and he is a good player of spin,” said Kuldeep. “To get him out, you need to produce some magic on the field and that was a beautiful ball and I really loved it.”
Jonny Bairstow, playing his 100th test, hit Kuldeep for a couple of sixes but fell to the spinner after a quick-fire 29 off 18 balls.
Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Joe Root lbw and Kuldeep dealt a body blow by dismissing Stokes for a duck.
Ashwin, who took 4-51 in his 100th test, then ran through the England tail. The off-spinner removed Tom Hartley (six) and Mark Wood (nought) in the same over and returned to bowl another two-wicket over to get rid of Ben Foakes (24) and James Anderson (nought).
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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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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