CHENNAI: At 4PM on Monday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) released a public advisory titled ‘Current Temperature Status and Heat Wave Warning’. It stated that most parts of the country, on Sunday, experienced temperatures ranging from 40-46*C with central India experiencing a heat wave. “Heat wave conditions very likely in some places of Vidarbha on 27th & 28th April; in isolated pockets of Jammu-Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh & East Rajasthan on 27th; West Rajasthan, Odisha, Gujarat State, Rayalaseema, Chhattisgarh and north Telangana on 27th & 28th April."
Summers in India are never not hot. Two months of school holidays, coinciding with the Indian Premier League (IPL)become the norm in the last two decades during summers. This year, however, is different. Thanks to a Super El Nino effect, India is experiencing a significant rise in temperature in most parts of the country. It has affected a lot of demographics.
It has had its effect on the IPL as well. Take Delhi, for example, where Delhi Capitals played Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday. Delhi saw an appreciably above normal (3.1°C to 5.0°C) temperatures on Sunday with the nights also expected to be warmer (Monday night temperature was close to 33*C). On the field, a little after Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ran through the DC top-order, a dust/sand storm (because of severe heat) interrupted the play. On Tuesday, where Punjab Kings are set to play Rajasthan Royals in New Chandigarh, ‘Heat wave conditions’ warnings have been given by the IMD.
Travelling every two days on average and playing day games are not new to the IPL teams. But it comes with its own challenges and precautions taken by the strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists of each franchise, and to an extent the players themselves.
“Day games are tough, I won't lie. We obviously treat the guys as adults and we educate them and advise them about hydration, making sure that they take the basic fundamental steps like making sure they are urinating regularly and it's relatively clear before the match starts. We don't overhydrate, it's a tough one because there's a thing called hyponatremia where you drink too much and you get rid of your salts and so forth. We also use, for some guys who do tend to cramp easily, like a salt drink, prophylactically basically before cramping occurs ,” PBKS Physiotherapy Consultant Andrew Leipus told this daily.
Avoiding early departure from hotels
Teams also try not to arrive too early to the ground so that they are not exposed to above normal temperatures for long. “When guys arrive, within five minutes they're out on the ground throwing down and having a run around. We try and push that out as long as we can so they are not exposed to those temperatures for too long, which also means that our warm-up's a little bit quicker. We use the ice towels, the ice neck wraps as well for those guys who like them. Some guys don't like them, but we try and cool the guys' core body temperatures, especially the guys who have been out there in the middle,’ Leipus explained.
“ We used ice jackets a bit, but the guys don't like them because it makes them sort of tighten up. The pickle juice is what I was talking about before. Some guys like to have that prophylactically, just a bit of a sip beforehand. It sort of goes against what the physiological mechanism is supposed to be, which is like a sudden shock to the system, but they still find that there's actually some benefit in taking it beforehand,” he said, adding that the 12th man, who is also educated on the proceedings, plays a crucial role in afternoon games.
While these are steps taken on match days, there is more to it. Recovery, personalisation of diet and individual focus are also key as in a tournament like IPL, going into maintenance mode, is the only way. Nicole Linhares, health coach and nutritionist of PBKS, felt that their work starts 24-48 hours before the match.
“A big part of our strategy is, honestly, personalisation. Every player has different sweat rates, sodium losses and different hydration needs. I try to individualise their hydration accordingly, speaking to their physio, S&C coaches, understanding what their output is and then personalising it accordingly. We prepare personalised hydration stacks, whether that's electrolytes, carb-based drinks, homemade isotonic drinks or even coconut water whenever available to us. I try to make sure they are delivered to the players at timely intervals, sometimes outside their rooms, sometimes before team departures or meetings or at practice,” Linhares told this daily.
“On hot game days, we try to focus on easy-to-digest meals that are high in carbs for energy, not so much focused on protein before a game and not too heavy or greasy. So players feel fuelled but not sluggish in the heat. We also try to use local foods in different cities that naturally help with cooling and hydration. The eventual and the actual goal is to keep players ahead on both hydration and energy rather than trying to catch up later,” she added.
It is a relief to the players and teams that there are no day games till Saturday allowing the heat wave to pass. However, the maximum temperature is only expected to increase barring the rainfall in certain regions over the next few weeks. And the onus will remain on the support staff and players themselves to keep hydrated and healthy for them to stay on the field for 40 overs.