If Suryakumar Yadav has been feeling any stress over the furore between India and Pakistan, which he was so central to, he has a funny way of showing it.
It is perhaps inaccurate to say the India captain himself lit the touchpaper on a toxic handshake row that pushed the 2025 Asia Cup to the brink of farce this week.
His decision to lead his players off last Sunday without completing that specific formality, then dedicate their seven-wicket win to India’s armed forces, was certainly the headline act that exacerbated the issue.
The devil has been in the detail, though. The rest of the week has been spent working out the whys and the wherefores, the who did whats, deciding who deserves the boot, and who is the better person in all of this.
Pakistan were worked into such a frenzy about it, they were on the brink of walking out on the competition, only being coaxed back after they had overshot the start time of their last group match.
They appeared highly distracted in that game, and only survived to make the Super Four when the UAE botched an eminently manageable run chase.
Amid the fervour, the Indians have been hidden away, without a game between that summit meeting with Pakistan on Sunday, and the one against humble Oman on Friday.
Oman did actually put up an impressive fight against their superstar opposition at Zayed Cricket Stadium, albeit without ever quite seeming likely to create a shock.
Suryakumar, for his part, was a picture of chill. He said he enjoyed the way Oman’s players batted. He did not even bother with batting himself; 10 Indians made it to the crease as they racked up 188 for eight, but the captain was the odd one out.
“When one or two overs were left, Arshdeep [Singh, the Indian tailender] said he wanted to go in to bat, and I said, ‘No problem, you can definitely go in, it’s completely fine,” Suryakumar said. “If I bat or I don’t bat, winning the game is more important.”
If he was any more laid back, he would be horizontal. Which, he revealed, has been his formula for staying away from all the extraneous noise since Sunday, with the rivals set to meet again at Dubai International Stadium this Sunday.
“Close your room, switch off your phone, and sleep,” he said of his method for staying away from the chatter.
“I think that’s the best. See, it’s easy to say, but it’s sometimes difficult because you meet a lot of friends, you go out for dinner, and you have a lot of players around who like to see all these things.
“It’s very difficult, but then it’s on you in terms of what you want to listen to, what you want to have in your mind, and go on and have a practice session or go and play a game.
“But I have been very clear with all the boys. I think it's very important if you want to do well this tournament and going forward, we will have to shut a lot of noise from outside and take what is good for you.”
Not that it is possible, or even advisable, to do that entirely, he said. “I’m not saying shut the noise completely, but take what is good for you,” he said.
“Someone can give you good advice as well, which can help you in the game, which can help you on the ground.
“[But] I think that is very important for me to rest. I feel everyone is in a good space [ahead of Sunday].”
While Suryakumar opted out of batting, Varun Chakaravarthy was left out of the Oman game altogether.
The mystery spinner has just vaulted to the top of the ICC’s rankings for T20 bowlers and Suryakumar said he is keen not to miss any game time at all, despite being rested for the final group game.
“If he’s playing or not playing, he likes to come to the ground, bowl around eight to 10 overs, and [against Oman] in the warm-up, he was as pumped up as if he's playing the game,” Suryakumar said.
“I had to tell him, ‘Macha [mate], you’re taking rest today.’ But his preparations are spot on, irrespective of whether he’s playing or not.
“I think that’s one thing which is different from everyone is his preparation. He's always ready to play the game.”
India’s captain said the seven-wicket win of a week previously will count for nothing when they start against Pakistan on Sunday.
“We want to follow all the good habits which we've been doing in the last two, three games and we'll take one game at a time,” he said.
“It doesn't give us an edge that we have played them once and we had a good game. We'll have to start well from scratch and whoever plays well will win the game.”
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Seven%20Winters%20in%20Tehran
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%20%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Steffi%20Niederzoll%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Reyhaneh%20Jabbari%2C%20Shole%20Pakravan%2C%20Zar%20Amir%20Ebrahimi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
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.”
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30:
- UAE bt Nepal by 78 runs
- Hong Kong bt Singapore by 5 wickets
- Oman bt Malaysia by 2 wickets
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
