Two of the most impressive teams of Indian Premier League 2024 will fight it out for the top prize on Sunday after Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier on Friday.
Hyderabad thus set up a title showdown with runaway leaders Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai in what is expected to be an epic clash between two closely matched teams and who also happen to have the two most expensive players in the tournament's history.
Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins is enjoying the time of his life after guiding Australia to the Test and ODI world titles last year before briefly becoming the highest paid IPL player during the auction - bagging a contract worth a whopping $2.5 million.
He was then named captain of the franchise and he has guided his team expertly into the final while maintaining a high standard in bowling by picking up 17 wickets in 15 matches.
Cummins has made particularly efficient use of local talent, getting the best out of Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and Nitish Reddy both with bat and ball.
On Friday, it was the spin of Ahmed and Sharma that helped
Hyderabad defeat Rajasthan by 36 runs.
Left-arm spinners Ahmed (3-23) and Sharma (2-24) choked Rajasthan to 139-7 in reply to Hyderabad's 175-9.
Ahmed made the biggest difference. After opener Travis Head was out for 34 off 28 balls, Ahmed replaced him as the impact substitute and scored a handy 18 runs.
Then he plunged Rajasthan into deep trouble on a slow pitch when he snared Yashasvi Jaiswal on 42 off 21 and dismissed Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin in the same over.
Rajasthan was 79-5 in the 12th over, and Sharma finished off the Royals' hopes.
Sharma removed captain Sanju Samson for 10 and came back to bowl Rajasthan impact substitute Shimron Hetmyer for four, while also taking two catches.
Explaining the decision to deploy two left-arm spinners, Cummins said the pitch was gripping and both bowlers made the most of the conditions.
"That was a surprise, tried to stick one out of him (Sharma) with a couple of right-handers and he bowled beautifully and those two won it with their bowling in the middle overs," Cummins said.
Cummins' Australian teammate Mitchell Starc took a different route to the final. The left-arm quick had a lot of pressure of expectations after bagging a record $3 million contract during the auction.
However, he failed miserably for most of the IPL, going at more than 10 an over almost every match. That Kolkata continued their victory march was a testament to their incredible bench strength and form of other bowlers like Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Harshit Rana.
Videos of Starc looking disconsolate on the field made the rounds of social media, prompting suggestions that Kolkata might be forced to bench their most expensive player.
But the Aussie quick is a multi-tournament champion and he delivered when it mattered most in the first qualifier when he castled the most destructive batsman of this IPL - Hyderabad's Head - to open the floodgates and seal passage into the final with a lethal spell of 3-34.
Many believe that one ball to Head - breaching through the defence and flattening Head's stumps - alone was worth the $3m contract.
The battle between Cummins and Starc at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday could well decide the champion of IPL 2024.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
