T20 season in UAE could spring unpleasant surprises on regional heavyweights

It is still 40° Celsius here in the UAE. And it will only get hotter as the top T20 teams in the region prepare for what should be an unforgettable four weeks of cricket.

The Asia Cup is taking place here, after a period of uncertainty over participants - actually, just India. As a prelude to the main T20 competition, the UAE will host a tri-series involving Pakistan and Afghanistan in Sharjah, beginning Friday.

That tournament will serve as an ideal preparation for the Asia Cup – which runs from September 9-28 – which in turn will be a testing ground for teams ahead of the T20 World Cup that takes place in India and Sri Lanka early next year.

Some of the more established teams, however, should not consider the coming four weeks as any sort of warm-up. It is T20 cricket, and a mostly level playing field.

India and Pakistan would normally be seen as the strongest contenders in any Asia Cup. But it won't be as straightforward this time. Afghanistan made it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year and their players have abundant experience of white-ball cricket in the UAE – a second home for many of their players.

This year, the UAE secured a historic T20 series win over Bangladesh in Sharjah. Bangladesh, in turn, defeated Pakistan in a T20 series at home.

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson, right, with PCB high performance director Aqib Javed. AP

India won the Champions Trophy in Dubai earlier this year but are currently coming to grips with the apparent forced ouster of veterans like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from all formats, and the unconvincing promotion of Shubman Gill in the T20 set-up at the expense of proven performers.

Pakistan, meanwhile, are still languishing eighth in the ICC rankings and have decided to move on from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, two stalwarts whose runs were deemed not impactful enough by modern standards.

Both regional heavyweights should expect rough weather over the coming weeks.

Afghanistan are one of the more dangerous white-ball sides across conditions and become particularly lethal on Asian surfaces. They have picked as many as four top-quality wrist and mystery spinners – captain Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, Mujeeb ur Rahman and AM Ghazanfar.

Good luck trying to score in the 12 overs, at least, of spin from them on UAE pitches; since 2024, the Emirates has the fourth-lowest scoring rate in T20 matches across all regions.

Then there is Bangladesh, who lost to UAE but defeated Pakistan at home in T20s this year. The Tigers also defeated Sri Lanka in July. Bangladesh have arguably one of the more balanced sides across formats among Asian teams, with a particularly robust seam bowling attack.

That might not exactly be what works in the UAE this time, but pitches that help spinners also tend to aid quicks who know how to use variations.

Pakistan will get enough time to get used to the conditions by the time the Asia Cup begins. And while their batting might not give opposition sleepless nights, they have some dangerous spinners in Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed.

And finally, India, the No 1-ranked T20 team in the world. There is so much IPL talent to choose from, India could realistically select a completely different playing XI and still be very competitive.

But the fact is the team have not played a T20I since February. Even those who were active across formats have not played for a month since the conclusion of the five-Test England tour.

The absence of quality competitive cricket could hurt India, at least in the beginning of the Asia Cup.

Also, India's batting can get stuck against sustained and quality spin, which will be put to the ultimate test next month, not only by Pakistan but also Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, depending on who qualifies from the second group for the Super Four stage.

UAE, too, have momentum and will look to take the fight to India and Pakistan in their group; you never know what can happen if the conditions fall in your favour in a 20-over game.

More than anything, the next four weeks will show how flat the T20 world truly is, where many teams are on a similar level and where it does not take a lot for fortunes to change.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.

How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed

Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.

Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.

The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.

One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.

That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.

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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.”