Amit Mishra is congratulated by captain Dhoni, left, and other teammates after the dismissal of Graeme Smith at the Eden Gardens.
Amit Mishra is congratulated by captain Dhoni, left, and other teammates after the dismissal of Graeme Smith at the Eden Gardens.
Amit Mishra is congratulated by captain Dhoni, left, and other teammates after the dismissal of Graeme Smith at the Eden Gardens.
Amit Mishra is congratulated by captain Dhoni, left, and other teammates after the dismissal of Graeme Smith at the Eden Gardens.

Sport

India confident of passing the Test

Amit Mishra takes key wickets of captain Smith and Kallis but bad light and rain allow for only 34.1 overs on the fourth day.

  • English
  • Arabic

Gary Kirsten, the India coach, has backed his bowlers to topple South Africa today and retain their No1 ranking in Test cricket after being frustrated by rain on the fourth day of the second Test in Kolkata. India's march towards a series-levelling win was hampered by bad weather, with just 34.1 overs and 157 minutes of play being possible yesterday. Trailing by 232 runs and three wickets down, South Africa will be praying for more rain today, or another double century from Hashim Amla, who will resume on 49 not out this morning, if they are to salvage an unlikely draw. Kirsten, however, is confident his bowlers, particularly his spinners, will be able to finish the job. "It was disappointing not to be on the field," he said.

"That's the way it is. We can't fight the weather. It would have been handy to have 50 overs, but we've just got to get on with it and use the time available to us. We didn't become the No 1 ranked team for nothing. "We've got guys who are breaking records in world cricket. We're very proud of our performances. We had a wobble in the last Test, and we have had a lot of injuries as well. "And we bounced back here.The guys have shown for a while now, in the last 18 months, that when their backs are against the wall, they can bounce back - not just the batsmen, but the bowlers as well. "Amit Mishra bowled really well yesterday, so did Harbhajan Singh. With the two of them bowling really well, and with Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan adding in as well, we are in a good position. It obviously depends on how many overs are available to us."

Meanwhile, India have recalled Yusuf Pathan, the hard-hitting batsman, for the first two of the three one-day internationals against South Africa. Pathan, who was dropped after the Champions Trophy in South Africa last year, returns on the back of an astonishing double century that helped West Zone chase a world-record 536 to win the Duleep Trophy earlier this month. Gautam Gambhir has been omitted due to a groin injury, while Harbhajan will miss the first two ODIs as he has been granted time off to attend his sister's wedding. India will also be without Yuvraj Singh, who has not yet recovered from a wrist injury. The Indian Premier League will announce on March 8 the two new franchises to be added to the Twenty20 tournament, Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, has revealed. The owners of the two new teams to join the league next year have been a matter of intense speculation after Modi stated he had received interest from an English Premier League team. arizvi@thenational.ae

South Africa 296 (second innings, overnight 6-0): Graeme Smith lbw b Mishra 20 Alviro Petersen c Badrinath b Harbhajan 21 Hashim Amla batting 49 Jacques Kallis c Dhoni b Mishra 20 Ashwell Prince batting 0 Extras: (5nb) 5 Total: (for three wickets, 34 overs) 111 Fall or wickets: 1-36, 2-54, 3-111. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 6-0-32-0 Harbhajan Singh 13-3-31-1 Ishant Sharma 8-1-36-0 (4nb) Amit Mishra 7-3-15-2 (1nb) Virender Sehwag 1-0-1-0. India 643-6 decl.

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.”

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E6.5-litre%20V12%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E725hp%20at%207%2C750rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E716Nm%20at%206%2C250rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQ4%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C650%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Cricket