A sluggish pitch and a different format provided no relief for West Indies as India powered home to a comprehensive six-wicket victory over the visitors in the first one-day international at Kochi.
After the debacle of losing two Tests inside three days amid the euphoria surrounding Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement, West Indies had more woe in store when their key batsman, the destructive Chris Gayle, went out of the equation for the full series with the second ball of the match.
Gayle was run out as he landed awkwardly. It was revealed later that he had torn his hamstring and was ruled out of the series. The India spinners duly applied the squeeze on a turning track with uneven bounce as West Indies could only muster 211 runs.
India also lost an early wicket in reply, but the pair of opener Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli once again dished out another of their in-form partnerships to tame even the cracking surface and guide India home with plenty of overs to spare.
“We were making an effort to play with a straight bat,” Kohli said after he was adjudged man of the match for his knock of 86.
Kohli also became the fastest to reach the 5,000 runs mark in 120 matches, although Sir Vivian Richards of West Indies also took the same number of innings, 114, in 126 matches to cross the milestone. However, Kohli denied he was a man in a hurry. “I just watch the ball and react. Some balls were keeping very low today. I got some quick runs and that took the pressure off Rohit as well. We enjoy batting as a pair,” he said.
Kohli played the danger man Sunil Narine with ease and the West Indian spinner struggled to create an impression on a track that should have suited him.
His captain, MS Dhoni, also complimented the bowlers for setting up what he called a “fantastic performance”.
“It could have been ever better if one of our batsmen would have got a hundred,” Dhoni said. “There was some variable bounce that assisted our fast bowlers and they found them quickly.
“Overall, our spinners did the job for us. It wasn’t easy for the opposition to turn the strike over.”
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The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
The specs
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Tips for taking the metro
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450+ employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
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Console: PlayStation 2 to 5
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WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
'Lost in Space'
Creators: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Irwin Allen
Stars: Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Maxwell Jenkins
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
The pillars of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy
Encourage innovation in the metaverse field and boost economic contribution
Develop outstanding talents through education and training
Develop applications and the way they are used in Dubai's government institutions
Adopt, expand and promote secure platforms globally
Develop the infrastructure and regulations
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Director: Rick Famuyiwa
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3.28pm: 62kg female: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR)
3.35pm: 69kg male: Isaac Doederlein (BRA) v Paulo Miyao (BRA)
3.42pm: 70kg female: Thamara Silva (BRA) v Alessandra Moss (AUS)
3.49pm: 77kg male: Oliver Lovell (GBR) v Tommy Langarkar (NOR)
3.56pm: 85kg male: Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE) v Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA)
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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
