The team being led by Virat Kohli, centre, are nowhere close to being the best ever Indian side. AP Photo
The team being led by Virat Kohli, centre, are nowhere close to being the best ever Indian side. AP Photo
The team being led by Virat Kohli, centre, are nowhere close to being the best ever Indian side. AP Photo
The team being led by Virat Kohli, centre, are nowhere close to being the best ever Indian side. AP Photo

Virat Kohli's India need a reality check ahead of Australia tour: England series takeaways


Chitrabhanu Kadalayil
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The Indian cricket apparatus, from the team all the way up to the board, is likely to do some soul-searching over the next few weeks and months.

For good reason, too.

This was hardly an Indian summer for a team that lost four of their five Tests in England. It is all the more disappointing given their previous trip four years ago also ended 4-1 to the home team. At least, India’s players were inexperienced last time around. What excuse do they have now?

And yet, while 4-1 was an accurate reflection of the 2014 series, this one was more evenly poised than the scoreline suggests. Indeed, India came close to winning at Edgbaston, Southampton and The Oval. The only game in which India took a beating was at Lord’s.

The series could easily have ended 3-2 in India’s favour.

So, rather than get too down about the result – which is understandably disappointing – it makes more sense to take the positives from it, in order to better prepare for the tour of Australia at the turn of the year.

Ishant Sharma's success in the series proves how important preparation is. Getty Images
Ishant Sharma's success in the series proves how important preparation is. Getty Images

Talking of preparation …

India have yet to get adequately ready for a Test series abroad.

The team were in England, and in neighbouring Ireland before that, well in advance. But they spent much of that time playing white-ball cricket, rather than with the red ball.

They only played one warm-up game before the Tests got under way.

Yes, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara spent a few weeks playing county cricket. But only Ishant used that experience to his advantage across the five Tests.

Ashwin began well, taking four wickets at Edgbaston, but fitness became an issue as the series progressed. Pujara got a superb hundred in Southampton but his county stint was a flop show.

Conversely, Kohli prospered despite spending most of his time, reserved for preparation, on the sidelines due to a back injury.

Still, one cannot overemphasise the importance of preparation enough.

Alas, the Board of Control for Cricket in India seems more eager to squeeze as many series as it can, than setting aside time for training and preparation. The sooner it puts cricket before money, the better it will be for the game – and its own coffers – in the long run.

India should retain their experienced batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, left, and Ajinkya Rahane for the Australia tour. Reuters
India should retain their experienced batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, left, and Ajinkya Rahane for the Australia tour. Reuters

Retain the batting core – for now

It may be tempting for the selectors to make wholesale changes now, but it might prove a foolhardy move with only a few months left before India leave for Australia. It is now more than any other time in this team’s history that they need all the experience they can get.

Opener Murali Vijay has the technique and the experience to excel in the five-day game – despite his failures in England. The same goes for Pujara and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who along with Vijay have played a combined 171 Tests.

None of them are mainstays in India’s limited-overs teams, and if they can be given as much time and resources to prepare for Australia, including sending them down under well in advance, they could all still serve Indian cricket well.

Ring in the changes if none of them perform.

India's selectors should consider dropping Shikhar Dhawan from the Test team for good. AFP
India's selectors should consider dropping Shikhar Dhawan from the Test team for good. AFP

… but end of the road for Dhawan

That being said, it is time to drop opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Save for scoring hundreds against Sri Lanka and debutants Afghanistan in less challenging circumstances and conditions, the left-hander has done little to inspire confidence in the selectors that he has Test calibre. He flopped in England, failed in South Africa before that, and has yet to prove his mettle in Australia.

Like Rohit Sharma, Dhawan has much to contribute in the shorter formats, and the selectors must make it clear to both players that their roles in India cricket will be to stick to limited-overs cricket.

______________

Read more:

England v India – winners and losers: Captaincy struggles hurt Virat Kohli

Paul Radley: Anderson and Cook share limelight in a memorable Oval Test

Seth Jacobson: End of road for Cook, but Anderson continues on journey

Virat Kohli's Asia Cup absence could help Indian revival, says Kapil Dev

Ian Oxborrow: Cook's retirement feels like death knell for Test cricket

______________

Rishabh Pant proved he can be a successful Test batsman, but he made far to many mistakes while keeping wicket. Getty Images
Rishabh Pant proved he can be a successful Test batsman, but he made far to many mistakes while keeping wicket. Getty Images

Consider fielding two wicketkeepers

What impact Jos Buttler’s recall into England’s Test side is having on Jonny Bairstow’s psyche and lack of runs in the second half of the series is still debatable. Is it insecurity? Or is it because the latter has not been the same since getting injured at Trent Bridge?

Either way, it makes sense to have two wicketkeepers in the side – as both players can bat brilliantly.

In the three Tests he has played, Rishabh Pant has shown the potential to be successful Test batsman – he became the first Indian keeper-batsman to score a hundred in England. Yet, the mistakes he made behind the stumps hurt India’s chances to win the series.

How he will fare in Australia, therefore, is a big question. Perhaps, it might be worth picking a natural-born keeper and have Pant play purely as a batsman. If Wriddhiman Saha is not fit in time, the selectors could give Srikar Bharat, the young and impressive Andhra Pradesh stumper, a series.

India coach Ravi Shastri, centre, is spinning a yarn about the class of this Indian team. Reuters
India coach Ravi Shastri, centre, is spinning a yarn about the class of this Indian team. Reuters

Kohli and team management all over the place

There are too many questions being asked of the management, which technically includes coach Ravi Shastri, Kohli and Rahane.

For instance, Ashwin’s selection for the Southampton Test was shrouded in mystery. Why was he picked in the first place? And when asked if he was unfit, why did Shastri and Rahane deny the fact, only for Kohli to confirm it later?

The regular chopping and changing of the line-up smacks of a confusion in their policy.

Also, Shastri must stop comparing this Indian team with their predecessors. To call them the best Indian side overseas in a long time is nothing but bluster, because the facts do not confirm this. At least, not yet.

At the moment, what he says comes across as spin, or worse, makes him sound delusional.

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Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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.

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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.”

Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder

Started: October 2021

Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Industry: technology, logistics

Investors: A15 and self-funded 

Tamkeen's offering
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Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

Results:

Men’s wheelchair 200m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 27.14; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 27.81; 3. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 27.81.

Trump v Khan

2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022:  Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.

Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”

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.