T20 World Cup: Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya give India early pointers

Rishabh Pant ticked many boxes in what was his first outing in an India jersey since his serious accident in 2022 as he hit a sparkling fifty on a difficult New York surface during a T20 World Cup warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday.

Batting first on an unknown surface at the Nassau County International Stadium, India's makeshift opening combination of captain Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson struggled to get going against the Bangladesh bowlers; Virat Kohli did not take part in the match as he had landed in New York only on Friday.

The surface offered purchase to the fast and slow bowlers, which helped the Tigers keep a lid on the scoring for most part.

Samson departed for a six-ball one while captain Sharma scored at a little over run a ball in his 23 from 19 balls. It was Pant, promoted up to number three, who held the innings together. He got the ball rolling by smashing successive sixes off Shakib Al Hasan. Pant reached 53 from 32 balls and looked good for a lot more before he was retired out.

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Suryakumar Yadav hit a brisk 31 from 18 balls but the designated power hitter of the squad – Shivam Dube – could barely put bat to ball as he laboured to 14 from 16 balls with one six.

It was left to Hardik Pandya to rescue the innings. The all-rounder proved there is no substitute for experience as he hit an unbeaten 40 from 23 balls, including three successive sixes off Tanvir Islam.

The warm-up match in New York also showed that this tournament could be lot more challenging for batting, at least at some venues, as both pacers and spinners got ample help in the air and off the surface.

India reached 182-5 in their 20 overs.

A sizeable number of players had just returned from the Indian Premier League where scores of 250 and more were scored regularly. However, new venues like New York and Dallas, and a few in the Caribbean could require a lot more nuanced approach to T20 cricket.

India's bowling attack then made the most of helpful conditions as their quicks scythed through the Bangladesh top order. Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh got the ball to hold and move off the pitch as he picked 2-3 in his first two overs.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled one incisive over at the start before the rest of the bowling attack was given a chance to stake their claim for a spot in the playing XI.

Dube bowled three overs and got enough encouragement from the pitch to remain in the mind of the team management for the main phase of the tournament. He even picked up two wickets off successive balls in the last over of the innings.

Bangladesh were reduced to 41-5 and the game was as good as over. The Indians restricted Bangladesh to 122-9 to win easily. But more importantly they got an idea about the conditions that should be similar when they face Ireland in their first match of the World Cup on Wednesday and then Pakistan on Sunday.

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Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

JERSEY INFO

Red Jersey
General Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the leader of the General Classification by time.
Green Jersey
Points Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the fastest sprinter, who has obtained the best positions in each stage and intermediate sprints.
White Jersey
Young Rider Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the best young rider born after January 1, 1995 in the overall classification by time (U25).
Black Jersey
Intermediate Sprint Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the rider who has gained the most Intermediate Sprint Points.

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.”

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COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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