CP Rizwan keeps his eye in with throw-downs from wife as he aims to cement place in UAE team after lockdown

Given the current restrictions on movement and social gatherings, CP Rizwan’s birthday celebrations will be muted when he turns 32 on Sunday.

In all likelihood, it will be similar to most other days in the recent past. Which is, a day at the office, followed by some throw-downs from his wife Fathima in the front room of their apartment in Sharjah.

Anything for a fix of cricket, for a player who had hoped to be in the process of nailing down his place in the UAE national team at the moment.

"It is a little difficult," Rizwan said of the coronavirus-enforced absence of cricket. "We are missing it obviously because it is such a big part of our routine.

“Playing domestic cricket, preparing with the UAE team, it is all a major miss. But we do still interact.

“And my wife helps me with throw-downs, so at least I can do something. It is only quite a light ball, so we haven’t broken anything yet.”

The couple married in 2015. Fathima knew little of cricket until then.

Within two years she had given up her job in teaching in order to support Rizwan’s cricket career, and now rarely misses a game.

“She didn’t follow cricket at all before we were married,” Rizwan said. “Since then, she had really got into it, started coming to matches, and now she gives me advice. She tells me I shouldn’t be throwing my wicket away.

“She has been to so many domestic matches and stayed late in the night, watching me play. Now she’s started enjoying the game.”

Rizwan debuted for the national team at the start of 2019, having been a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket for some time previous to that.

He has been in and out of the side in the time since, and he says he has been frustrated at failing to make the sort of scores that would cement his place in the XI.

CP Rizwan says his UAE national team cap is his most prized possession among his many cricket awards

“I felt really happy that all the toil in domestic cricket, and all the hard work that nobody was seeing – in the night, after work, running on the beach – was being rewarded,” he said of being selected for UAE.

“I felt really blessed. But I’m not satisfied. I want to do well for UAE, and win matches for them. I’ve been getting starts, but I’m still awaiting a big knock. Inshallah it will come.”

Rizwan might have been part of the same Kerala Ranji Trophy squad as Sanju Samson back in his native India, but he has a deep affinity with UAE, too.

His father has lived in the country for 35 years. Rizwan was brought to live in Sharjah when he was two, having been born in India, while his two younger sisters were both born in the emirate.

He left to pursue engineering studies in Kochi, but returned in 2014, after landing a job with the Bukhatir Group.

“When I was still studying in India, I used to come here for every vacation,” Rizwan said.

CP Rizwan is careful to avoid his trophy cabinet when his wife Fathima gives him throw-downs in their front room

“When Ahmed Raza [now the UAE captain] was young and new to the national team, I remember I used to go from my home to the Sharjah Stadium to see UAE practicing.

“I would give throw-downs for Ahmed Raza. We still talk about that. They are good memories, and now we are teammates.

“Now, after all this time, he is still leading from the front, in terms of fitness standards and everything. All the youngsters look up to him.”

His day job as an electrical engineer for Eastern International, in the construction industry, means he has not been confined to his home like many other people in recent weeks.

“Even during the lockdown period I have been working, and I have to focus on my cricket after that,” he said. “It hasn’t been a worry. To be frank, our building has 32 floors and only our office is working, so it feels like we are in isolation, too.

“Since everyone is still working in construction we have no complaints. In a way, it is good. The government has this policy and we are happy to adhere to it.”

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.”