DUBAI // Five months is more like an advertisement break than a retirement, but whatever Shahid Afridi wants to call it, he clearly had no time to gather rust during his brief exile from the international game.
Were it anyone other than Afridi, barely anyone would have noticed he had gone. However, the explosive all-rounder announced his return in typically luminous fashion on Friday night, with a man-of-the-match display in an easy win over Sri Lanka.
By the time Afridi was tossed the ball by Misbah-ul-Haq, his captain, Sri Lanka had already wilted against a Pakistan seam attack who were afforded a new ball at both ends for the first time.
The former captain does everything in a rush, and his three wickets hurried the Sri Lankans to a woeful demise.
Pakistan's old guard proved to be in full bloom when Younis Khan, another former captain, then marshalled an easy run chase with an even-time half-century.
"Experience is good to have in all fields of life, and especially in cricket," Misbah said. "In pressure situations it is experience which counts.
"It is a really good sign for me that I have so many experienced guys in the team.
"Younis Khan is playing well and contributing to the team all the time.
"Shahid Afridi has come back in and performed really well for the team. Abdul Razzaq bowled very well. It is good to have these senior players."
Sri Lanka's dire run of form since they reached the World Cup final in India in April shows no sign of abating.
Their supporters were out in force at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday night, the first time Pakistan's partisan support has been equalled in terms of numbers in the two and a half years since major cricket was first played here. However, most of them, apart from the papare band, had left way before the end of the game.
The tepid form of the Sri Lankan players may come as little surprise, given that they are in the throes of a pay dispute with their board which dates all the way back to the World Cup.
However, Tillakaratne Dilshan refused to use that as an excuse. "The motivation is still there for everyone," the captain said.
"We have prepared really well, but we have to transfer that to the middle. Once we cross the line, we have to give 100 per cent and play our brand of cricket."
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) delayed the appointment of a new coach and announced Mohsin Khan will continue as interim coach for the tour to Bangladesh.
"Since the board is yet to finalise the appointment of a new head coach, Mohsin Khan will continue as interim coach for the Bangladesh tour," a PCB statement said.
Pakistan are due to tour Bangladesh from November 26 to play two Test matches, three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match.
The 56-year-old Mohsin is a former Pakistan opening batsman who played in 48 Tests and 75 one-day internationals between 1978 and 1986, scoring 2,709 runs in the five-day game and 1,877 runs in the shorter version.
pradley@thenational.ae
Follow
The National Sport
on
@SprtNationalUAE
& Paul Radley on
@PaulRadley
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESplintr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMay%202019%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammad%20AlMheiri%20and%20Badr%20AlBadr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20and%20Riyadh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epayments%20%2F%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10%20employees%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%20seven-figure%20sum%20%2F%20pre-seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eangel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
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.”
