Squads
India: Kohli (c), Rahul, Shaw, Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Vihari, Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Shami, Umesh, Siraj, Thakur
West Indies: Holder (c), Ambris, Bishoo, Brathwaite, Chase, Dowrich (wk), Gabriel, Hamilton, Hetmyer, Hope, Lewis, Paul, Powell, Roach, Warrican, Joseph
Stung by defeat in England and heading to Australia for a tough tour next month, India's cricketers are looking for some confidence-boosting home victories against the West Indies from Thursday.
The No 1 Test side and winners of last week's Asia Cup start as favourites against the eighth-ranked West Indies in the series of two Tests, five one-day internationals and three twenty20 games.
"West Indies doesn't have a team to compete against India. They don't stand a chance at all," veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh told AFP ahead of the first Test in Rajkot starting on Thursday.
But India may not find it so easy, with series defeats this year in England and South Africa revealing some serious chinks in India's armour, at least away from home.
Under captain Virat Kohli, India have new faces in uncapped batsman Mayank Agarwal and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj.
Siraj will bolster the pace attack led by Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav who could trouble the relatively young West Indian batting line-up.
Meanwhile spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav are a formidable force on home turf.
The Jason Holder-led West Indies are arriving off the back of a successful home season where they drew a Test series against Sri Lanka and then drubbed Bangladesh 2-0.
Batsman Sunil Ambris has already made his case for a place in the team XI after his unbeaten 114 in the tourists' only warm-up game in India.
Roach returns
The erstwhile cricket powerhouse have been bolstered by the return of experienced quick bowler Kemar Roach who will join fellow pacemen Holder and Shannon Gabriel.
"We have played some really good cricket in recent times. Quite a few of our guys stood out individually and we have to keep that collective strength," Holder was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper.
"India is the No 1 Test team. They have played some good cricket despite their last series [against England]. It will be a good test for us," said Holder, captain in 26 of his 34 Tests.
Holder also said that leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo could prove to be key on turning Indian tracks.
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"He has been around for a while and doing well. The conditions could favour him a bit more here. We expect him to come into play in this series and be a match-winner," he said of Bishoo.
The Guyanese player famously took 8-49 against Pakistan in a Test in Dubai two years ago. It proved to be the fifth-best return by a West Indies bowler in Tests - better than any of the all-time greats like Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall or Courtney Walsh managed.
It will be West Indies' first India tour since the Caribbean side abandoned their 2014 trip due to a players' pay dispute with the national cricket board.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
More coverage from the Future Forum
Squads
India: Kohli (c), Rahul, Shaw, Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Vihari, Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Shami, Umesh, Siraj, Thakur
West Indies: Holder (c), Ambris, Bishoo, Brathwaite, Chase, Dowrich (wk), Gabriel, Hamilton, Hetmyer, Hope, Lewis, Paul, Powell, Roach, Warrican, Joseph
