I had one and only one aim on Thursday.
It was not to attend Pakistan’s practice session and news conference ahead of Friday’s game against Australia, not even to document the team’s ongoing unravelling.
Neither was it to check in on Australia and see how they were getting on with this whole World Twenty20 malarkey.
And Shane Watson was announcing his retirement to his team in a huddle before practice, but that was not the aim either.
Read more from Osman Samiuddin:
Best not to fidget or be funky: Australia still trying to find itself at World T20
Pakistan cricket, a side imploding in slow motion, cannot hide their loss of spirit
Or OK, these were some of the aims of day, but my main aim was to not get coloured.
It was Holi in India on Thursday see, the spring festival of colours, where any and everyone is a target for some good-natured smearing with a mixture of coloured dry powder and water.
It could happen anywhere and the key is to avoid boisterous groups of young men and women who look like they might have walked through a real-life rainbow and picked up its colours along the way.
On two previous visits to the country during Holi I have been drenched. Once, in Delhi, a friend opened the door to me by hurling a bucket full of coloured water, drenching me and ruining my phone.
On another, I made the mistake of wearing a white shirt on the day – it is a mistake only if you, like me, had no idea it was holi that day. It is, as I discovered, like a red rag to a bull.
This year, for the first time, the provincial government of Sindh in Pakistan, announced Holi as a public holiday in that country as well. Hindus form around two per cent of Pakistan’s population and the vast majority of them live in the province.
The chances of getting drenched in colours there, however, remain slim.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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The biog
Favourite book: Animal Farm by George Orwell
Favourite music: Classical
Hobbies: Reading and writing
SPECS
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
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The Transfiguration
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Starring: Eric Ruffin, Chloe Levine
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Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
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Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
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6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 90,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Onward, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
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Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
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Featherweight
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Catchweight 80kg
Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Otabek Kadirov (UZB)
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Lightweight
Ho Taek-oh (KOR) beat Ronald Girones (CUB)
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Lightweight
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Bantamweight
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (RUS)
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Featherweight
Movlid Khaybulaev (RUS) v Zaka Fatullazade (AZE)
(Round 1 rear naked choke)
Flyweight
Shannon Ross (TUR) beat Donovon Freelow (USA)
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Lightweight
Dan Collins (GBR) beat Mohammad Yahya (UAE)
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Catchweight 73kg
Martun Mezhulmyan (ARM) beat Islam Mamedov (RUS)
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Bantamweight world title
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2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
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Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10
