Varun Chakravarthy made a belated but spectacular introduction to the Champions Trophy as he bowled India to victory over New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.
It was the mystery spinner’s first appearance in the competition. At the toss, India’s captain Rohit Sharma had said Chakravarthy was in the line up as they wanted to rest Harshit Rana, the young seam bowler.
Maybe they had been wanting to hide one of their trump cards until the business end of the tournament. On the evidence of what he produced in just his second one-day international, Chakravarthy must be a shoo-in for a starting place from now on.
On a dry wicket which suited his method perfectly, the 33-year-old spinner claimed 5-42. At times, he was unplayable as he spun the tournament favourites to a 44-run win.
With both sides already assured of their place in the semi-finals, and the venues decided, too, there did not appear to be too much riding on this game.
Supporters still packed out Dubai International Stadium, safe in the knowledge that these two sides are well matched, and would likely provide gripping fare.
That said, a large swath of ticket-holders missed the most box office moment of the game. Late comers were risking missing Virat Kohli’s moment on his 300th appearance in one-day international cricket.
The batting great’s stay at the crease was only brief, and was ended in the most spectacular fashion. After 6.4 overs, with his score on 11, Kohli laced a drive uppishly through backward point off Matt Henry.
He was surely expecting four as it sped off his bat, only for Glenn Phillips to affect the most extraordinary catch, diving away one-handed to his right.
After winning the toss, New Zealand used the ploy that had served India so well on their previous two games at this game, and opted to chase.
Early signs were that it was a winning formula. At the fall of Kohli’s wicket, the Black Caps had India 30-3 within seven overs, and they looked certain to spoil the party.
Shreyas Iyer anchored the innings from there on, and gave India a target to defend. First he shared in a 98 run stand with Axar Patel, and reached 79 himself.
A late innings cameo worth 45 from Hardik Pandya helped India to 249-9, with Henry taking 5-42 for New Zealand.
The Black Caps might have felt well set at that stage, given the sides chasing at this venue are usually favoured. Against a four-pronged spin threat, though, the challenge was beyond them.
Only Kane Williamson managed any significant time at the wicket, adding an innings of 81 to the stunning diving catch he had taken earlier in the game, to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja.
He could not shoulder the entire burden, though, and Chakravarthy ripped through the New Zealand line up as India clinched the win with 4.3 overs unused.
India will now face Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday, with New Zealand heading to Pakistan to play South Africa a day later.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Teaching in coronavirus times
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
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