March 27, 1994, was Holi Day, India’s annual festival of colours. At Eden Park in Auckland, Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath and Salil Ankola combined to skittle New Zealand for just 142.
All these years later, hardly anyone remembers that. They do, though, recall what happened next.
Opening the batting for the first time, Sachin Tendulkar stroked 15 fours and two sixes in a 49-ball 82. For much of Indian cricket’s Tendulkar era, the narrative tended to be that way, with the bowlers relegated to near afterthoughts.
Even with Tendulkar retired, Indian cricket does not lack for batting heroes.
Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane have already left their mark on this World Cup, but on Holi Day in Perth, it was the turn of the bowlers to take centre stage.
On a fast Waca Ground pitch that exhibited some variable bounce, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami were magnificent with the new ball.
Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith barely put bat to ball in the early exchanges as it zipped through from just short of a length.
Both Yadav and Shami bowled with genuine pace but, more importantly, they stuck to a consistent length that made it hard for the batsmen to swing comfortably. When they did, they usually found the edge.
Gayle took two fours and a six as he tried to counterattack, but a miscued pull was taken in the deep as the West Indies slumped to 35 for three, then 85 for seven.
India, who had dropped just one catch in three previous games, had a poor day in the field, dropping several chances of varying degrees of difficulty.
But the support bowling was excellent, with Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja able to attack and consolidate at the same time, even as Mohit Sharma again slotted perfectly into the third seamer's role.
Jason Holder added 39 with Darren Sammy and 51 with Jerome Taylor, but the total of 182 was at least 50 below par.
In the game that changed Indian cricket history, the 1983 World Cup final, they had defended 183 against the West Indies. This time, they had to chase it to confirm a quarter-final berth.
Taylor's lively first spell, which accounted for Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, at least gave his team a sniff, but Kohli and then MS Dhoni ensured there would be no banana-skin slip.
Kohli, like Jadeja, fell to the pull and, had Dhoni not been around, alarm bells might have been ringing at 134 for six.
But despite recent indifferent form, India’s captain is a man who tends to deliver when his team need it. A composed, unbeaten 45 closed out the game with 65 balls remaining.
The West Indies do not play their final group game, against the United Arab Emirates, until March 15, but Holder seemed strangely reluctant to test his quicks in the final stages.
When Taylor bowled his eighth over, India were 138 for six. He was not seen again, with Marlon Samuels and Smith, who plays for Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, given the last five overs of the match.
On a day when he drew level with Mohammad Azharuddin on 174 ODIs as captain of India, Dhoni moved past Sourav Ganguly with his 59th win away from home.
India have group games against Ireland and Zimbabwe to come, but many supporters’ eyes will turn to Pool A and the tussle for fourth place between Bangladesh and England.
India will almost certainly play their quarter-final in Melbourne, and the title defence that started on such shaky ground is beginning to gather momentum.
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HAJJAN
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
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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Gothia Cup 2025
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