When Martin Guptill agreed to join defending champions Karachi Kings for the rescheduled second-half of the PSL, he might have thought the idea of a little sun sounded nice.
Then factor in the chance to get in some decent match practice in conditions that will be similar – and perhaps even completely identical by the time the tournament comes around – to the T20 World Cup later this year, then even better.
Temperatures back home in Auckland have been hovering around the 15-degree mark this week. Compare that to the UAE, where the summer is starting to bake. In Sweihan, near Al Ain, a temperature of 51.8 degrees was recorded on Sunday.
Karachi will restart their PSL campaign on Thursday against Multan Sultans, in the first of the double-header match days. The game will start at 5pm at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Guptill acknowledges the temperatures for the rest of this tournament will take some getting used to for everyone, but he is looking forward to the challenge.
“I always struggle with the heat unfortunately,” said Guptill, who was brought in as a replacement player following the league’s suspension.
“Coming from winter back at home, into the 40-odd degree heat is going to be a challenge. That sort of heat is something I will never be able to get comfortable with.
“But at the end of the day it is going to be the same for everyone here. From my side, it is going to be a case of making sure I am well hydrated going into the game, that I keep my fluids up, and that I don’t start cramping too early during a game.
“That is what I will be looking to do to try to combat the heat.”
The New Zealand opener has his mind fixed on helping Karachi retain the title they won in a similarly disrupted season last time out.
A by-product of his recruitment could be some handy acclimatisation with playing conditions that could be repeated later this year, on the global stage.
New recruits brought in for PSL 2021
The ICC are pressing ahead with planning for the T20 World Cup to be switched from India to the UAE in October and November.
For the likes of Guptill, and all the other players at the PSL who are eyeing an appearance in that competition, the next two weeks in the capital could prove beneficial.
“It is different to playing here to what it is back at home,” Guptill said.
“The likes of Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali are going to be a big challenge over here. Slower balls are going to come into play as the tournament wears on and the pitches get a bit drier. It is going to be a great challenge, which I am looking forward to.”
As well as the weather, another challenge leading players continue to face is life on the road in biosecure bubbles.
According to David Miller, Peshawar Zalmi’s South African batsman, players need to find a way to adapt.
“It is very difficult to manage the bubbles over a period of time,” Miller said.
“It is OK if you come in for a tournament, but if you start going from tour to tour to tour, it does get very difficult.
“Leaving one tour, straight onto the next tour, having a quarantine for the next seven days, then still being in the bubble does get mentally draining.
“It is just about trying to find out what is the release that you have. You hear of a lot of players having mental issues with the challenges around bubble life.
“I don’t think it is going to be going away anytime soon. So as players, teams and management, I think we need to come to a place where we can eventually make this work.
“I don’t think it is healthy to be doing this for months on end, but I have accepted the fact that, I want to play cricket so I need to be here.”
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
The years Ramadan fell in May
Dubai World Cup draw
1. Gunnevera
2. Capezzano
3. North America
4. Audible
5. Seeking The Soul
6. Pavel
7. Gronkowski
8. Axelrod
9. New Trails
10. Yoshida
11. K T Brave
12. Thunder Snow
13. Dolkong
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World Cup warm up matches
May 24 Pakistan v Afghanistan, Bristol; Sri Lanka v South Africa, Cardiff
May 25 England v Australia, Southampton; India v New Zealand, The Oval
May 26 South Africa v West Indies, Bristol; Pakistan v Bangladesh, Cardiff
May 27 Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton; England v Afghanistan, The Oval
May 28 West Indies v New Zealand, Bristol; Bangladesh v India, Cardiff
More on Quran memorisation:
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 435hp at 5,900rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,800-5,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Price: from Dh498,542
On sale: now
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
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Everton 1 Stoke City 0
Everton (Rooney 45 1')
Man of the Match Phil Jagielka (Everton)
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
