Pakistan cricket has been plunged into fresh chaos as the national cricket board dropped star batsman and former all-format captain Babar Azam from the squad for the second and third Tests against England.
Pakistan's red-ball team has hit rock bottom following a 2-0 series whitewash at home against Bangladesh and a morale-crushing innings and 47-run defeat in the first Test in Multan against England.
Babar will miss the matches in Multan and Rawalpindi after their latest loss handed Pakistan their sixth consecutive Test defeat and left them bottom of the World Test Championship standings.
The star batsman failed in both innings, scoring just 35 runs on a Multan pitch where the home team first made 556 and England then smashed 823-7 declared in almost the same number of overs (150).
As Pakistan became the first team in history to lose by an innings after scoring 500, tough decisions were expected to be made. However, few expected the Pakistan cricket board to drop Azam, while also giving rest to fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.
Babar has been under the scanner for some time now. He stepped down as captain in all formats following Pakistan's elimination from the 2023 ODI World Cup, but four months later, he was re-appointed as the white-ball captain but his second tenure also proved unsuccessful, leading him to resign once again.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood had earlier voiced his support following the innings defeat to England, calling Babar "Pakistan's best batter" and asking for players to be given more time.
However, the new selection committee thought otherwise and decided to make wholesale changes.
"We’ve had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule," Aqib Javed, member of the PCB selection committee, said in a statement.
Several new names were added to the squad, including uncapped batsmen Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz and Kamran Ghulam, fast bowler Mohammad Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan.
The extreme decision drew a lot of criticism. Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman came out in support of Babar right after the squad was announced.
"It’s concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam. India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively," Zaman wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team. There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan went one step ahead and called it a "stupid decision".
"So Pakistan haven’t won in a while .. Go 1 nil down in the series and decide to drop the best player. I guess Pakistan cricket is full of surprises but this tops the lot .. absolutely stupid decision .. unless he has asked for a break !!!" Vaughan said in a post on X.
The second Test in Multan starts on Tuesday. The home team have decided to play the second match on the same pitch as the first Test, with the aim of bringing spin into play early on.
Uncapped batsman Ghulam who has been scoring consistently in domestic cricket is likely to replace Babar at number four.
Ben Stokes returns
Meanwhile, Ben Stokes has been cleared to return to the side for the second Test after missing the last four matches due to a hamstring injury.
Stokes picked up the injury in August while playing in The Hundred, with Ollie Pope captaining the Test team in his absence.
Seamer Matthew Potts has also been named in the playing 11 for the first time since August, with fast bowlers Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes rested for the second match in Multan.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
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Under 19 Cricket World Cup, Asia Qualifier
Fixtures
Friday, April 12, Malaysia v UAE
Saturday, April 13, UAE v Nepal
Monday, April 15, UAE v Kuwait
Tuesday, April 16, UAE v Singapore
Thursday, April 18, UAE v Oman
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Aaron Benjamin, Akasha Mohammed, Alishan Sharafu, Anand Kumar, Ansh Tandon, Ashwanth Valthapa, Karthik Meiyappan, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Rishab Mukherjee, Niel Lobo, Osama Hassan, Vritya Aravind, Wasi Shah
THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
Dir: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz
Four stars
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
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