In his few appearances alongside Test cricket's leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis is proving the perfect complement for Sri Lanka.
The youngster is already proving to be an enigma in the cricketing world and seems to have created an indelible and incredible impact even on the great personalities in the world of cricket.
An avalanche of words has already been poured and while critics are hopeful that he will "be sorted out", the batsmen ponder as to what action or techniques they should use to confront a bowler with many variations up his sleeve.
The Indian captain Anil Kumble admits Mendis remains a puzzle for some of his batsmen. "He is still a mystery to us. It is hard to read his deliveries," he says.
In just two tournaments, Mendis has flummoxed some international batsmen, who have played spin well in their careers.
The Indians were clueless against him in the Asia Cup final, where Mendis netted 6-13 in only his eighth one-day international.
The Indian coach Gary Kirsten adds: "You just cannot read him. He is a fantastic find for Sri Lankan cricket and he will take wickets anywhere in the world."
Mendis took 17 wickets in last month's Asia Cup in Pakistan, marking a record for the tournament.
He has taken 18 wickets in only two Tests so far.
Mendis is officially classified in a unique way of right-arm off-break and leg-break bowler. What remains unsaid is that he is a spinner who can bowl googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks.
Batsmen have been confounded by his variety of deliveries and are at a loss to figure out what his stock delivery is.
The Mendis debut in the Caribbean has grown in stature, particularly his "flicker" or the Carrom Ball which he releases with an unusual snap of his fingers, but with total control.
Kumar Sangakkara, who has the envious task of picking up his deliveries from behind the batsmen's stumps, feels Mendis has wasted no time in showing how exciting a prospect he is for the island nation.
"In the first Test he played a supporting role to Murali, but in the Galle Test he bowled so well that he became our main strike bowler." says the Sri Lanka vice-captain.
"He may have made a few mistakes, but that is often the case when you are an attacking bowler and a wicket-taker.
"The Indian batsmen are still struggling to read him and his success is the great variation and excellent control.
"Just as encouraging as his on-field exploits, has been his character.
"He has been unfazed by the sudden jump from not-so-much first class cricket and into the international arena. He has also coped well with the media frenzy. He is an amazing discovery."
Mendis hails from Moratuwa on the outskirts of Colombo.
He went to St Anthony's College, a village church school, and later enrolled into a government school, Moratu Vidyalaya, where he could pursue his passion to play alongside his role model, Muralitharan.
Mendis, being the third in a family of three boys and three girls, was encouraged by his father to play cricket for one of the leading clubs in Colombo, the Sinhalese Sports Club.
Unfortunately, his father did not survive to witness his son's glory as he died from a heart attack four years ago.
On his father's seventh day alms-giving, he was spotted by army personnel when he played a match against them for Old Boys' of Moratu Vidyalaya.
Impressed with his talent, he was invited to play for the army.
Jobless and helpless without his mentor and supporting father, Mendis joined the army against his mother's wishes.
The scope to pursue his passion and the attached financial stability pushed him further into the spotlight and towards inclusion in the national pool of talent.
His mother is overjoyed at his success, but Mendis is not getting carried away like many others.
"I am not getting carried away by the media limelight," he says.
"I go back to my family after every match."
With a sensible head on his shoulders and a golden arm to roll with, Mendis, 23, has a remarkable future and is heading towards celebrity status in the cricket-crazy nation.
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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.”
