They say good things come to those who wait. For women cricketers, it came in the form of the Women’s Premier League T20 tournament.
The demand for women's franchise cricket in India has been steadily growing, and the Indian cricket board finally fulfilled the wishes of fans earlier this year by launching a cash-rich tournament that rivalled the best in the world.
The five teams were auctioned off for a total of $572 million, while the media rights for the tournament fetched another $117m. The top player salary in the WPL was $415,000, making it the second most valuable women's sports league in the world after basketball's WNBA.
The UAE's Mahika Gaur came close to being signed up during the player auction, only to be denied by an administrative oversight by the Gujarat team that bid for her as they had already filled their overseas quota of players.
On the field, the cricket was equally enthralling. Last month, Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals by seven wickets in a thrilling final at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium, which was nearly full to its 20,000 capacity.
The team that finished behind the two finalists was UP Warriorz, who were beaten by Mumbai in the eliminator.
The franchise was bought by Capri Global Holdings for a little over $92 million. For Rajesh Sharma, managing director of Capri Global, the season was a huge success.
“The season has been fantastic for UP Warriorz. Yes, we would have loved to be in the final and lift the trophy, but a top-three finish is by no means a small thing. The season has been a landmark one in women’s cricket, and we are glad that we could play a part in it,” he told The National.
More than 10 million viewers watched the final on broadcast rights holders Jio Cinema, underlining the potential of the product.
The opening week of the tournament had a collective reach of over 50 million. While it has a long way to go before it can catch up with the popularity of the men’s Indian Premier League, Sharma believes there is no point comparing the two tournaments and insists the WPL will carve a niche for itself.
“They are both very different entities. I would not want to compare experiences at this point. Though I’d like to say with certainty that we are here to stay. In my view, this is the biggest thing happening in women’s sports in particular and sports in general at the moment.”
While Sharma said WPL is “a great investment for us”, he did wish there had been more time to prepare for the inaugural season. The franchise owners were announced at the end of January and the tournament began in March.
“Everyone involved in the tournament, from the fans to the players and the other stakeholders really enjoyed their time.
“However, the only aspect which resulted in discussion has been the scheduling. This year there was hardly any time to plan and we hope we will get a better opportunity to plan in the future. The WPL has been extremely well received by everyone and that augurs well for the future of the sport.”
After the final, veteran Indian batter Harmanpreet Kaur had said: "So many people were asking when will the WPL come and that day is here, and we are so happy and proud."
For women’s cricket, their day in the sun has truly arrived.
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Results
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THE POPE'S ITINERARY
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
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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.”
