Bangladesh coach Naveed Nawaz says there is no magic formula behind their domination of Asian age-group cricket other than hard work.
Bangladesh claimed a second Under 19 Asia Cup title in successive years as they beat India at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
The defending champions – who beat the UAE in the final at the same venue in 2023 – successfully defended 199.
The 59-run win, against a side including players bound for the riches of the Indian Premier League, was ecstatically received by a substantial crowd in Sports City.
The double success in the Asia Cup follows on from Bangladesh winning the U19 World Cup in South Africa in 2022.
“We have got amazing talent coming through in the juniors,” said Nawaz, who was also the coach when Bangladesh won the World Cup, before returning for a two-year stint with the senior side of his native Sri Lanka.
“It is just about how to structure them and give the necessary training. There is no magic done, just pure hard work. [The support] is also amazing and it boosts the boys up a lot.”
This tournament was prefaced by the IPL auction, which saw Vaibhav Suryavanshi become the youngest ever player to be recruited to the world’s biggest franchise competition.
Aged 13, the India opener has been marked out as a star of the future, having landed a contract worth $130,000 to play for Rajasthan Royals. The present was not so easy, though.
The left-hander made successive half centuries leading into the final, but was unable to anchor India’s run chase against Bangladesh.
When he carved a catch to backward point off Maruf Mridah, he was given the sort of send off that Mohammed Siraj might even have baulked at.
India were 24-2 at that point, and a total that had seemed below the mark suddenly felt defendable for Bangladesh.
“The score of 199 was a bit here or there, but in a final it could be enough,” Nawaz said.
“The support from the crowd was unbelievable and boosted the boys up very much. It was a big game and we knew people could make mistakes. We did when we were batting. We were about 40 runs short of the par score in this ground.
“All we discussed were the plans we had against them, and the need to focus on those plans. If we could take advantage of the mistakes they made, then we would be on top.”
When the final wicket fell, the non-playing reserves of Bangladesh raced on to the field with their country’s flag around their shoulders.
Azizul Hakim, the captain who was bowling when the wicket fell, was overcome with emotion as he knelt beside the wicket.
“I was very, very confident in our bowling side,” Hakim said. “We had good plans and it was just a matter of executing those.”
Iqbal Hossain Emon, the Bangladesh fast-bowler, was the player of the match and the tournament, for his respective hauls of three and 13 wickets.
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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.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
SCORES IN BRIEF
New Zealand 153 and 56 for 1 in 22.4 overs at close
Pakistan 227
(Babar 62, Asad 43, Boult 4-54, De Grandhomme 2-30, Patel 2-64)
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Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group C
Liverpool v Red Star Belgrade
Anfield, Liverpool
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
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