Most parents would try to book the week off work if there was a chance of their child debuting in international cricket for their country.
If 20-year-old batsman Abdullah Shafiq does get a first cap for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in their limited-overs series, starting on Friday, his father will not even be in the same country.
Shafiq Ahmed will not be going near a TV set, either. If he has to run a training session in his job as the cricket coach at Gems Modern Academy in Dubai while his son is batting in an international match 2,000kms away, then all the better.
Anything to quell the nerves.
“I cannot watch,” Shafiq Ahmed said. “I don’t know how parents can watch their children play. I can’t be happy watching him play.
“I’m nervous for his performance, and for my own health.
"Even when my brother Arshad [Ali, the former UAE all-rounder] was playing, I could not watch him play.
“I’m happy to watch the highlights after, see if he needs to improve on anything, and we can talk about it.
“Honestly, maybe I can watch some of it, if I know he’s in, but I can’t watch a regular long innings. If other batsmen are playing, I don’t have a problem.”
To say Shafiq Ahmed is given to fretting is an understatement.
His son Abdullah has enjoyed an astonishing rise in cricket since being a second-team player last season, to becoming a star at Pakistan’s National T20 Cup earlier this month, and now, a call up to the full Pakistan national team.
All of which has piled on the stress for his father, watching on from afar in the UAE. He is concerned his boy’s hasty advance in cricket will have an adverse effect on his academic studies.
The call up to the Pakistan side is great – obviously. But, still, maybe a few more years establishing himself in top-flight domestic cricket might have been more advisable. So goes Shafiq Sr’s thinking.
“I want him to stay and enjoy playing cricket for the next 10 or 15 years," he said.
“Whether that involves representing his country, that is in the hands of God, but I just want him to enjoy playing top-level cricket.
“Last year, he was in a grade two team. This year, God has given him a place [in the Pakistan squad]. Let’s see how it works out.”
Shafiq Sr lived in Dubai for 29 years, after first arriving to play as a professional cricketer.
He has enjoyed great success as a cricket coach in Dubai, bringing through an array of talent at Gems Modern Academy since he was appointed their coach in 2005.
I want him to stay and enjoy playing cricket for the next 10 or 15 years
His involvement in his son’s development, as well as that of his other son and daughter, has been limited to the time school holidays – one month in winter, and two in summer – have permitted him to get home to Sialkot.
“I still remember seeing him holding the bat for the first time,” he said.
“I checked with my wife who gave the bat to Abdullah, and asked if he was playing regularly with someone.
“She said, no, that she had just bought the bat three or four days before, and it was just totally natural the way he held the bat and played drives.
“He looked like someone who had been playing for one or two years already.”
If Abdullah looked like a natural back then, he continues to do so now, too.
He has played just one first-class match so far. In his debut innings for Central Punjab back in December, he scored a century – and outshone Pakistan internationals Salman Butt, Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal in the process.
Then came the scintillating display in the T20 competition, which included another debut hundred, after he came in to face a hat-trick ball in the first over of a run-chase.
At least uncle Arshad tuned in to watch.
“I was watching it on Facebook and I called Shafiq to tell him Abdullah was playing,” said Arshad, who was one of the UAE’s most outstanding players in the 2000s.
“He already knew he had gone from Sialkot to Multan to participate in this tournament, but he thought he wouldn’t get a match because there were big stars in his team, and he is just a young boy.
“Then the match was going on, and I saw he was batting with Kamran Akmal.
"He got to 30, 40, 50, and I said, ‘My gosh, Shafiq, look at this batting’.
“But Shafiq is the sort of person who won’t always watch the match.
"If Abdullah is playing, he cannot see the game. He would prefer to watch the highlights once he know what has happened.”
Arshad is delighted at his nephew’s call up, and is proud for his brother, who is nine years his senior.
“Shafiq knows cricket,” Arshad said.
“He said, ‘Arshad, this is T20 – sometimes you click, sometimes you don’t, and if he doesn’t, maybe they will leave him out.
“But for Abdullah to get Pakistan colours is a great achievement. It is a big thing in life. Especially in countries like Pakistan and India, where they have a huge quantity of people, all who love one team.
“It is not like England, or Australia, where they also have football or rugby. In Pakistan, everybody follows cricket.”
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
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.”
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Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
The years Ramadan fell in May
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
More on Quran memorisation:
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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