Spinner Kumble will be badly missed

DUBAI // Sunil Gavaskar believes the Indian bowling attack "will never be the same again" with the departure of Anil Kumble. Kumble announced his retirement from the game after the drawn third Test against Australia at the Kotla in Delhi, amassing 619 Test wickets and claiming 337 victims in one-day internationals. Calls for Kumble, 38, to quit were growing after an unimpressive series in Sri Lanka and a wicketless show in the first Test against Australia at Bangalore.

But the legspinner was defiant, saying that he would continue till he changed his mind after suffering a broken finger in the last Test. "I think he knew that the time had come," said Gavaskar, who was in Dubai along with Imran Khan and Ian Chappell this week. "He was getting injured far more often than earlier on. I also think he knew that he wasn't going to be playing the Nagpur Test because the injury was so bad that he wouldn't have been able to hold the bat or field.

"So I think he decided that it was the right time to go. He also took three wickets in the innings, the first time he had taken wickets in the series, and took that running catch despite the injured finger. He went on a high, India didn't lose the game. "The only anti-climax to the whole thing was that his last ball in Test cricket was driven for a boundary." No bowler in India cricket history has won more matches than Kumble and few in world cricket have been gutsier than him. He has bowled with aching bones, broken fingers and a fractured jaw.

"The Indian attack will never be the same again," added Gavaskar. "It is not going to be easy to replace somebody, who has taken over 600 Test wickets and over 300 in one-day internationals, and won so many matches. " His departure is going to leave a huge hole in the Indian team to fill. I know there have been talks in recent times that Kumble is not bowling as well as he did in the past, but that is to be expected.

"We can't bat and bowl in our 30s as we did in our teenage years or early 20s. "Kumble's departure is going to be a huge blow. "He will be missed, but the game goes on because it is greater than any individual. India will have to look for somebody who can come in and do half as well." arizvi@thenational.ae

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The Afghan connection

The influx of talented young Afghan players to UAE cricket could have a big impact on the fortunes of both countries. Here are three Emirates-based players to watch out for.

Hassan Khan Eisakhil
Mohammed Nabi is still proving his worth at the top level but there is another reason he is raging against the idea of retirement. If the allrounder hangs on a little bit longer, he might be able to play in the same team as his son, Hassan Khan. The family live in Ajman and train in Sharjah.

Masood Gurbaz
The opening batter, who trains at Sharjah Cricket Academy, is another player who is a part of a famous family. His brother, Rahmanullah, was an IPL winner with Kolkata Knight Riders, and opens the batting with distinction for Afghanistan.

Omid Rahman
The fast bowler became a pioneer earlier this year when he became the first Afghan to represent the UAE. He showed great promise in doing so, too, playing a key role in the senior team’s qualification for the Asia Cup in Muscat recently.

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British & Irish Lions 15
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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.”