Pakistan middle order batsman Asif Ali was on Tuesday named the ICC player of month for October, capping what has already been a memorable month for the South Asian side.
The month of October has been nothing short of a dream for Pakistan cricket fans. Not only did they get to witness an emphatic - and first ever - win over India in a World Cup, they also saw their team storm into the T20 showpiece event's semi-finals with five wins from five games.
The men in green are the in-form team of the tournament, and will fight for a spot in the final on Thursday when they take on Australia in Dubai. And Asif has played a big role in their run.
The middle order batsman had long faced criticism for his inability to showcase his hitting abilities at the international level. But in his first opportunity at the ongoing World Cup, he silenced his critics by cracking 27 from 12 balls with one four and three sixes in a grudge match against New Zealand, securing a second big win after the one against India.
Pakistan were in deep trouble in their third game against Afghanistan chasing 148. Asif pulled Pakistan back from the brink, hitting an unbeaten 25 from just seven balls with four sixes to seal victory with an over to spare. That's seven sixes from 19 balls in a tournament where batsmen have generally struggled.
Those two performances were enough for Asif to win the ICC 'player of the month award' for October, beating Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and Namibia's David Wiese.
Ireland’s Laura Delany won the women's player of the month award.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
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The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
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- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
