If Ravichandran Ashwin is being hailed as the best spinner in contemporary cricket, the 29-year-old Indian owes it as much to those long fingers as to an ever-ticking brain.
Since his Test debut against West Indies four years ago, the tweaker from Chennai has emerged as a shrewd off-spinner who relishes his battle against the best and the sight of batsmen misreading his carrom ball.
His penchant for outsmarting key rival batsmen manifested in Sri Lanka earlier this year when he soured Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell by dismissing the retiring great in each of his last four innings.
The same trait resurfaced in Nagpur on Friday, when he foxed AB de Villiers, having dismissed the talismanic South African in the first two Twenty20 Internationals at the start of the tour as well.
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“The dismissal was quite well-planned, honestly,” Ashwin said after his 12-wicket match haul helped India take a series-clinching 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
“I had not given him a single carrom ball all through this tour. Today I thought on this wicket, to get it to straighten from wide of the crease, I think it was a very, very good ball.”
Ashwin gave an insight into a smart cricketing brain when explaining how he changes his bowling approach in the second innings of a test match.
“Most of the cues come when I go out to bat there. When I was defending ... there was a difference in the first innings and the second.
“The ball was not spinning viciously. It slowed down a bit, so I knew we had to be a touch fuller to bring them on the front (foot) and also vary our paces and trajectories.”
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Ashwin was the architect of India’s 2-1 series victory in Sri Lanka and his 24 scalps against South Africa means it would be difficult to deny him a second successive man-of-the-series award.
“He is a world class spinner, probably the best in the world right now,” India captain VIrat Kohli said of Ashwin who has claimed 55 wickets this year, the most by any bowler.
“He’s stepped up in a big way for us, even in Sri Lanka. He is one of the main reasons why we’ve been able to win back-to-back series.”
The rank turners India rolled out for South Africa have taken some of the sheen off Ashwin’s feat but few doubt the skill of the bowler whose 169 wickets is the most claimed by a spinner in his first 31 tests.
“A batsman goes out there to get a hundred, I go out there to get a five-wicket haul. That’s how I view it,” Ashwin said.
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Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
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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.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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The Sand Castle
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How to wear a kandura
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- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
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