ABU DHABI // As thousands of cricket fans gather to watch the Pakistan team take on New Zealand today in Abu Dhabi, one man in the crowd may be as big a celebrity as the players on the field: Chacha Cricket.
Chaudhry Abdul Jalil, 61, whose nickname means "Uncle Cricket" in Urdu, is considered the Pakistan team's mascot and most energetic supporter. His attendance is considered so crucial that the retiree is sponsored by the Pakistan Cricket Board, businesses and friends.
"Chacha is a legend," said Emad Naqvi, a Pakistani supporter who travels the world to see the national team play. "He makes us proud to be Pakistani because no other team has anybody like this. England might have their Barmy Army, but we have a one-man army. The fact that he is sponsored shows he is getting the top-class treatment, deservedly."
Dressed in his trademark green shalwar kameez, usually carrying a flag donated by another fan and sporting a long, white beard, Mr Jalil will be leading cheers beginning at 3pm today when the Pakistan and New Zealand teams meet to decide who leaves the city with the one-day international cricket trophy.
He has been watching international games for more than 40 years.
"I was 19 when I first watched an international game," he said. The match was Pakistan against England and the year was 1969. Colin Cowdrey was the English captain, and Saeed Ahmed led Pakistan in Lahore Stadium. The match was a draw. "I paid five Pakistani rupees for the tickets and went with four friends. I enjoyed it very much."
In his lifetime, Mr Jalil has followed Pakistan's cricket team to countries including India, the UK, South Africa and Bangladesh.
He also has a special connection with the UAE, having watched more than 100 matches in Sharjah. He also lived in the capital, working for Abu Dhabi Municipality for 25 years, until 1998, as an assistant foreman at a water-pumping station.
"I have visited and lived in different countries and my message is to bring happiness to everyone," he said before last Friday's match. "But my heart is in Pakistan."
These days, during matches he dances with fans, signs autographs, cheers for Pakistan, welcomes the opposing team and is accosted by supporters eager to capture him on their cameras.
One fan a few years ago was so drawn to Chacha Cricket, he wrote him a poem.
Mr Jalil enjoyed playing in local tournaments as a young man, but he never dreamed of being part of the national team.
"I am not a good player, I am a good cheerleader. I have been to about 400 international games, maybe more. I am respected and have fame in my own right," he said.
On Friday, when Pakistan lost to New Zealand by 64 runs, Chacha Cricket was welcomed by fans and drum-playing spectators roaring his name while he led chants of "Pakistan zindabad" (long live Pakistan) and "Welcome New Zealand".
Syed Ahmed Masud, a 26-year-old banker in the capital, was watching that match at the stadium.
"He's a very important part of the atmosphere and he brings life to Pakistani cricket," the Pakistani national said. "I miss him when he is not there. This marks the first time he has come [here] for ages.
"He has access to all of the different gates and goes from stand to stand to energise the crowds."
The presence of Mr Jalil can overshadow the activity on the grounds, fans say, with spectators so engrossed with meeting the celebrity that they miss sixes and wickets.
Umar Dhami, a businessman from Abu Dhabi, is planning to watch the match today and hopes to catch a glimpse of Chacha.
"He brings enjoyment and he has good comments about how the team is at the moment," said the British Pakistani.
"Everybody can relate to him because he is a normal human being. I saw him from far away in London, several years ago. It put a smile on my face."
Mr Jalil, whose home is in Sialkot, Punjab, was first sponsored as a fun, playful extension of the game, but he has become a spokesman for Pakistan during the South Asian country's turbulent political times.
"My mission is threefold: I want to promote Pakistan, I want happiness to all people and I believe strongly in welfare," he said. "Cricket is something to enjoy; it is not a place for tension or fighting."
On March 3, he was just a half-mile away from Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore when gunmen attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to play Pakistan. Six security officers died, as did two civilians, and seven members of the touring Sri Lankan party were wounded.
"I saw the firing, I saw one of the Sri Lankan players," he said. "What those gunmen did was very bad. In Pakistan, the Sri Lankans were our guests and we didn't provide them with good security. That incident has caused too much damage."
Still visibly shaken by the shooting, he said he realises it may be a long time until international games are played in his homeland.
"It's a very sad time for Pakistani cricket," he said. "All cricket lovers want it back but there are too many problems now."
For the 850,000-strong Pakistani community in the UAE, second only to India's as the largest expatriate group, he has some advice.
"All Pakistanis not living in Pakistan need to live by whichever country's law they are living in," he said. "And they should look after their families."
His family comprises his wife, Nasim, and five grown children.
And much as he could not pick a favourite child, he declines to say which player on the current team he likes the most. But in the history of cricket, however, the decision is easy.
"Imran Khan is definitely my favourite. Pakistan has won one World Cup, in 1992, and he was the captain. He is a good player under pressure," he said.
"Every country needs to have an honest leader. Maybe we should have Imran Khan as president, he is honest, clean and well-educated."
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RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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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.”
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Company%20profile
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
