Do two things before – and if at all – you feel like you may want to go and watch Azhar the Indian film about the former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Actually, the last seven words of the previous sentence are not really correct.
The film is not really truly about Mohammad Azharuddin, or at least the Mohammad Azharuddin who resides in the world in which these words are being written, or in hope, being read. This it admits before it begins: it is not a biopic but, convolutedly, a “fictionalised dramatic representation of incident[s]”.
That is an interesting way of wording it. A man accidentally stepping on dog poo is one kind of incident; a match-fixing case against a national captain is, perhaps, a different kind.
Forget that. Before you go, YouTube some Azhar batting. If you have seen him bat in your lifetime, remind yourself what he was about. If you have not, enlighten yourself.
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There is plenty to choose from. The 24 runs he took off an Ata-ur-Rehman over in an ODI against Pakistan in Sharjah almost exactly 20 years ago is a popular choice. Tony Greigh on the soundtrack is a bonus.
Azhar was captain at the time but under mounting pressure from all sorts of angles on and off the field. One six, down the ground, was borne of a light-footed skip down the pitch – to a fast bowler remember – that he would also use against Kumar Dharmasena, a spinner, later and in Sharjah again.
The six off the next ball was not quite as graceful, though a useful reminder that a sense of timing need not necessitate high aesthetic value. But it brought out some of the anger and irritation that had been building up in him.
A couple of angry taps, or claps, on the bat, and a gesture with his hands that was either telling an opponent on or off the field to look at where the ball went and fetch it, or, less spicily, just berating somebody who got in front of the sightscreen. I like to think it was the former.
Twenty-nine he ended on, from just 10 balls and took India past 300 in an ODI for the first time. At the time, I remember thinking he had brought all the swagger that Pakistan must have paraded in his face through their years of bilateral dominance, and returned it right back in the course of six balls.
There is the Cape Town hundred in the New Year’s Test in 1997, though that deserves a fuller viewing. In fact, it is an option to watch that instead of the film – it is, at 174 minutes, only half an hour or so longer and with superior plot and narrative.
The five fours he hit in a single Lance Klusener over a month before that, at Eden Gardens, is a shorter but sharper dose. All were legside, some violent, some untidy but one, the third, so dashing and upright it deserved to be a Jane Austen hero. It was a clip through midwicket, stood tall, but a clip that also could easily double as an earliest teaser of the helicopter shot. This was the trait that was most bewitching, able to switch from a gauche, slightly hunched and even uncouth presence to a gazelle in a flash.
The collar was up, but incompletely – that is, round the back, but not the sides. I used to think I understood why, that he was basically caught between new urges to go full swagger and older tugs to retain humility. It could not have been as simple as that I am sure, though then again, it could have been even simpler – it was, after all, just a collar. The taweez, that amulet, as ever, was refusing to stay hidden under his shirt.
The other thing to do, and make sure you do this, is to read the full report of India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into match-fixing. Some of you may have read it before, but never mind. Read it again, to remind yourselves that Azharuddin did actually confess to corruption. Read also Pradeep Magazine's Not Quite Cricket as the essential document of the time.
That is where the fictionalising and dramatising in the film comes in, in which that Azhar has done no such thing (sorry, spoiler alert). That is fine. This is, mostly, a free world. If someone chooses to give the story of Azhar a neat and happy but entirely untrue ending, where is the problem?
Real life, in which Azharuddin is still the man who confessed to fixing matches, the man who was banned for life for it, the man who must bear that weight no matter what he tells the world or wants it to think, the man who lost his son in a tragic accident, that real life carries on unimpeded.
And the force with which it does, that is equal to the force that was once his batting.
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The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
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4/5
The specs
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
TV (UAE time);
OSN Sports: from 10am
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
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