CHENNAI: One Of the hottest starts to August in recent times has seen the Indian team go through an extraordinary amount of ice to keep its players going on match days at the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy. The heat has also kept most of the teams away from training sessions on non-match days.
In fact, some members of the Indian team reported losing 2-3 kgs in sweat alone per match (most of them regained it during the rest day) during the league phase of the tournament.
So, it's fair to say that the Indian team has had to get creative to keep its players fresh ahead of the semifinals. To ensure they have been well hydrated, they have implemented specific hydration protocols after the match and before the players go to bed.
"Most of the hydration work is done by our physio," says Alan Tan, scientific advisor for the men's team. "We hydrate them before the match, we load them up with as much fluid as possible and then during the match as well. Post-match, we have got recovery drinks for them where we again restart the process of loading them up with fluid. Athletes are also responsible for their own hydration.
"After a match and before they go to bed, they possibly can go through as much as a litre to 1.5 litres of fluid. They also have a post-match meal so it's not just fluid alone."
Just to put things in perspective, the 1-1.5 litre mandate wasn't present in Spain where India played late last month. "A lot less in Spain, our matches were in the afternoon and it was nowhere as humid or hot as it is in India. Even the amount of fluid we needed was nowhere as close. Even the ice required to stay cool in Spain was probably about half the amount."
This is where the rest day part of the tournament is handy for the teams. Most of them have been happy to use it for video-based review sessions or light swimming pool sessions inside the team hotel (teams have usually tended to have outdoor training sessions during rest days but not at the Asian Champions Trophy).
"In the daybreak, they pretty much gain all of it back," Tan, who has worked with the likes of Tennis Australia before, says. "We are fortunate enough to have a recovery/rest day after two days. They also spend a lot of their time in the hotel so they have got enough time to regain most of the weight back."
Another trick up their sleeve is something called pre-cooling to tackle the excessive heat. The Indian management hasn't used it yet but Tan says they may in the days to come. "We haven't gotten to the stage of pre-cooling where we actually give them very very cold drinks before the match. But it's something we will implement at some stage."
Aided and abetted by sports science, the Indian team are a match away from winning their first gold since they jointly won it with Pakistan in 2018.