When Rising Pune Supergiant prepared for their second and final season as an IPL side by lavishing more than $2 million on Ben Stokes, it felt like money well spent.
Supremely talented, storied, and controversial, Stokes had always been box-office. He was made for cricket’s showiest competition.
He repaid the outlay in spades, too. Before they signed off for good, Pune went to the final, and might have won that, too, were it not for the last-over canniness of serial winners Mumbai Indians.
Stokes had to make do with a runner up medal, but was still named the player of his debut season in the IPL.
It might be a stretch to say Pune had been a one-man team that campaign, but he certainly did more than his fair share.
Most memorably, he scored a century after coming in at 10 for three in a run chase against Gujarat Lions.
It was typical Stokes, triumphing in adversity. Before the game, he had had a fitness test on a shoulder injury. He hobbled through the latter half of his innings with cramp. Yet he still emerged as the hero.
As the 20 guard dogs at the Pune stadium were put into their kennels late that night, Steve Smith sat down and extolled Stokes’ virtues.
“I said before the auction to the guys, ‘Do what you have to to get him’,” Smith said.
“All-rounders are so valuable in T20 cricket. He bats, bowls and fields well, so he is a perfect fit for our team.”
That was Stokes’ first T20 century. It has taken him three and a half years to make another.
Smith was still his captain. He was still playing a kit that carried a flash of pink. But the backdrop is vastly different, now.
Stokes became the first player to score centuries in two successful run-chases in the IPL, with his pugnacious effort against Mumbai in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night.
He termed it “bittersweet”, and said he had been frustrated as to why it had taken him so long to make a contribution of note in the tournament.
In his first five innings since his late arrival from compassionate leave in New Zealand he had made 110 runs from 103 balls, without hitting a six.
There are significant mitigating factors – a lack of any semblance of practice at all since the start of August being just one – but knives were being sharpened.
Consider Sanjay Manjrekar’s take on ESPNcricinfo last week, when weighing the merits of Stokes’ elevation to the top of the batting order for Rajasthan.
The former India batsman said the franchise were affording “too much VIP treatment” to the England all-rounder.
“They are looking at Ben Stokes as Ben Stokes this massive star of last year and the past couple of years,” Manjrekar said.
“It is like Ben Stokes is a god who has descended into India and is playing for Rajasthan Royals. I think they have to be more realistic about Ben Stokes and look at his performances.
“When he has played the IPL, there has actually only been one season where he really did well.
"Apart from that, he has mostly had average performances, not just through a period of a couple of matches, but through a long phase.
“To give that kind of treatment and platform to somebody because they have this stature, which is mostly at the international level, not at the IPL level.
“Somebody [Jos Buttler, who was moved down to the middle order] who has delivered magnificently at the IPL level has to compromise for Ben Stokes.”
Statistics support the point. Stokes’ returns in two-and-a-half seasons since his headlining arrival with Pune have been meagre.
In that great season of 2017, his combined strike-rate and average with the bat was 174.58.
In the seasons that followed – after joining Rajasthan – the tally dropped to 138.03, and then 144.74.
Yet his franchise retained faith, and why wouldn’t they? With Stokes, there is always the feeling that inspiration will outweigh statistics at the right time.
Remember, Stokes did not even make England's 2015 World Cup squad. Four years later, he was man of the match in the final as they won that title for the first time.
“Outside noise can affect people in different ways,” Stokes said in a conversation with Sanju Samson, his partner in the match-winning stand against Mumbai.
“When I was younger, it affected me, and took me a while to understand that outside noise isn’t what matters.
“It is about what is within the team, and the people who have an influence on you at a certain time in your career.
“I have had backing from everybody at this franchise for the past three years. I know that I haven’t delivered on the expectations of that.
“But having the backing of the people that matter in this franchise is really the thing that I pride everything on.
“It was good to return a little bit of faith tonight.”
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
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blow a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
Keir Starmer failed to give her his backing as she cried but later said she would be in the job for 'a long time to come'.
A spokesman said her upset was due to a personal matter.
BABYLON
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