India's T20 world champions land in Delhi to begin victory celebrations

India's T20 world champions finally landed in the country after a delay of more than four days, with thousands of fans braving monsoon rain to greet them.

The Indian team got stranded in Barbados, along with their family, board members and media, after Hurricane Beryl caused devastation across the Caribbean.

The Indian cricket board arranged for a chartered flight to get the contingent back home as normal services are yet to resume across the Caribbean islands.

Plane tracking website, Flightradar24, said the special Air India flight had been the "most tracked flight for much of the last 15 hours", as fans followed their team's journey back from the Caribbean.

Captain Rohit Sharma held up the World Cup trophy after arriving at New Delhi airport early Thursday morning.

Hundreds of supporters gathered at the airport, many waving the national flag.

00:35

India's delayed victory celebration will continue throughout the day. The national team will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then, they will fly to Mumbai where an open bus parade has been scheduled in the evening. Thereafter, a celebration ceremony will take place at the the Wankhede Stadium, which is also the headquarters of the Indian cricket board.

It has been a memorable few weeks for the Indian team who ended their decade long wait for a major title in Barbados on Saturday.

There, India defeated South Africa in a sensational final by seven runs, after looking down and out.

The Proteas needed 30 runs from 30 balls with six wickets in hand before India's fast bowlers scripted a remarkable turnaround to secure victory.

Star batsman Virat Kohli top-scored in the final with 76 while all-rounder Hardik Pandya picked up three wickets. Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh continued their excellent form in the title match.

The T20 triumph was India's first World Cup title since it won the 50-over version in 2011.

Victory also helped soothe the pain of successive final defeats over the last 12 months. India had lost the World Test Championship final to Australia in England and then the 50-over World Cup title at home, also to the Australians.

India were overwhelming favourites to win the ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad in November, but their grand victory celebrations had to be cancelled. They will now resume with the BCCI announcing a cash bonus of $15 million for the winning squad.

It also marked the beginning of a transition phase in Indian cricket. Soon after winning the title, captain Sharma, star batsman Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement from international T20 matches.

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.”

Fireball

Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.

A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.

"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.

If you go

The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.