When Darren Sammy was told by Shahid Afridi at the Pakistan Super League (PSL) draft he was handing the Peshawar Zalmi captaincy to him, he might have felt like David Moyes answering that call from Alex Ferguson.
That job was just about impossible, right? Taking over as leader from the most popular player in Pakistan cricket, the darling of the massive Pathan supporter base.
Yet he took what Afridi had done and improved it. Zalmi had not won the title under Afridi. Sammy made the most popular team champions, and made them more loveable in the process.
The West Indian had reservations about going to Lahore for the final when the competition started. The blasts that happened subsequently in Pakistan will only have exacerbated that.
And yet, not only did he go, he persuaded his doubting colleagues to go too. As a result, Peshawar won more than just the final against Quetta Gladiators.
“To me it was more than just a game,” Sammy said. “One of our mottos was to bring back the smiles, so I felt I brought a lot of smiles in Lahore and Peshawar. This trophy means a lot.”
Ending the exile
Cricket fans during the PSL final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Faisal Mahmood / Reuters
It is doubtful whether that one, glorious final will serve to coax international teams back to Pakistan. It will have been noted by the wider international cricket community, certainly.
So too, though, will have been the extraordinary operation in place to put it on. Sustaining things like 10,000 security troops — about one for every 2.2 spectators in the stadium — for regulation matches is not feasible.
But the PSL will not reach its full potential until it is played at home. There is a good reason for that. Grounds will not be filled on a consistent basis until they are played in the home cities of the teams the franchises represent.
“It is hard for them to come in for every game,” Mohammed Hafeez, the Peshawar all-rounder, said of matches played in the UAE.
“People have jobs, and only after that can they come and support the team. It is a great effort from them. But if the PSL can, in the coming times, happen in Pakistan that will be a great boost. People are waiting for that.”
Building future stars
Hasan Ali, right, of Peshawar Zalmi. Satish Kumar / The National
The three main aims of the PSL are: 1) to bring corporate investment to the game in Pakistan; 2) to prove cricket is ready to return to the country; and 3) to nurture new young talent.
This PSL delivered on the third of those most appreciably. Mohammed Asghar, 18, and Hasan Ali, 23, were the stars of the final for Peshawar, while Shadab Khan, 18, was touted by Dean Jones, his Islamabad United coach, as being “ready to play for Pakistan now”.
“What this tournament is going to do for Pakistan cricket in years to come is going to be pretty special,” Brendon McCullum, the Lahore Qalandars captain, said.
“You are getting international players and top Pakistan players mixing with up and coming, emerging cricketers. You are seeing guys having to play against top players, in front of big crowds, at crunch moments, and that is how you learn.
“You will learn quickly because of those reasons. Sharing a dressing room with guys like that also hastens your experience.”
The weather
Rain falls at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Satish Kumar / The National
Next time the PSL is scheduled for the UAE, the organisers might want to get together with the scientists at the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology and work out a plan.
One group was delighted to see the heavy and long showers that have been prevalent in the country over recent weeks. The other, not so much.
“We have carried out 12 cloud-seeding operations during the last three days,” Dr Ahmed Habeeb, a meteorologist at NCMS, was quoted as saying, coincidentally at a time when the PSL was at its busiest.
There are some things the PSL must have hoped they could guarantee. One of those was fine weather.
And yet one match was rained off entirely, and three others lost time to showers. Never before has that happened in a series in this country.
Rain stopped play nine times on a frenzied Friday afternoon in Sharjah. More time had been lost to sandstorms than rain in major matches at the UAE’s oldest venue in the past.
It felt as though 36 years of ran delays had been saved up and were being cashed in all at once.
The cricket
Babar Azam excelled with the bat. Satish Kumar / The National
At the start of the competition, the cricket was so-so. It seemed like the players on each of the teams were just getting to know each other. Which they clearly were.
Just four of the first 10 matches went to the final over, with only one of those being decided on the last ball.
Then all of a sudden, things started to click. Eight of the last nine league matches were decided in the final over, with three of those reaching the last ball.
Tellingly, the big stars stood up to be counted when the PSL reached its crunch point. Chris Gayle, McCullum and Kevin Pietersen made 65 runs between them in their first 10 PSL innings.
Pietersen had three ducks, two of which were first ball and the other run out without facing, in the space of four innings. He still bounced back to post 241 runs in all, muscling Quetta into the final in the process.
Perhaps the most refreshing feature of the runs and wickets charts was how well Pakistan was represented. Kamran Akmal and Babar Azam reaped the most runs.
The top six leading bowlers were all Pakistanis, and that included emerging players like Hasan and Usama Mir.
So it bears repeating: the PSL 2017 shows the future is bright for Pakistan cricket.
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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.”
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
more from Janine di Giovanni
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Vaccine Progress in the Middle East
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')
Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
'The Lost Daughter'
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20CarbonSifr%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202022%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Onur%20Elgun%2C%20Mustafa%20Bosca%20and%20Muhammed%20Yildirim%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Climate%20tech%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%241%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
WWE Evolution results
- Trish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
- Nia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
- Toni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
- Natalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match
- Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title by defeating Kairi Sane
- Becky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
- Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s title by beating Nikki Bella
The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
Why the Tourist Club?
Originally, The Club (which many people chose to call the “British Club”) was the only place where one could use the beach with changing rooms and a shower, and get refreshments.
In the early 1970s, the Government of Abu Dhabi wanted to give more people a place to get together on the beach, with some facilities for children. The place chosen was where the annual boat race was held, which Sheikh Zayed always attended and which brought crowds of locals and expatriates to the stretch of beach to the left of Le Méridien and the Marina.
It started with a round two-storey building, erected in about two weeks by Orient Contracting for Sheikh Zayed to use at one these races. Soon many facilities were planned and built, and members were invited to join.
Why it was called “Nadi Al Siyahi” is beyond me. But it is likely that one wanted to convey the idea that this was open to all comers. Because there was no danger of encountering alcohol on the premises, unlike at The Club, it was a place in particular for the many Arab expatriate civil servants to join. Initially the fees were very low and membership was offered free to many people, too.
Eventually there was a skating rink, bowling and many other amusements.
Frauke Heard-Bey is a historian and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 1968.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
