It is the first afternoon game of the season for RCB, and in the Mumbai heat, it can be a challenge to acclimatize to the afternoon sun. Mercury levels soar during the middle of the day and add to that the humidity in the air, and the conditions feel very different from a night game.

How do the players prepare for such extreme conditions? The RCB team has had two days out practicing in the afternoon session in the lead-up to the game. Speaking of the preparation ahead of playing under the afternoon sun, captain Faf du Plessis said, “It takes a lot of fluids before the game. We practiced today; it was very, very hot. I didn’t even do much running, it was just batting. So, it’s good to get your body used to what you’re gonna get.”

If that’s in the lead-up to a game, how does heat affect the way players approach the game? “On the day, it’s really important to try and manage the intensity. For instance when you’re batting, when there’s a definite two, you try and take a two, but when there’s not a definite two, just try and conserve some energy because when it’s very hot like it is at the moment, you’ve got to make sure that you conserve as much as you can because it’s very hot,” the RCB captain explained.

How does it affect a player’s approach mentally? Harshal Patel had an answer, “Heat does play on your mind because you’ve to prepare for it, you have to prepare your body to take this heat, and make sure that your intensity doesn’t drop because of the heat. Heat is a big factor that we prepare for. At the end of the day, whatever is thrown at us, we have to take it as a challenge, and try and do the best we can.”

With the sun beating down and predicted to go into the mid-30s on Saturday afternoon, the support staff - the physios and the doctors will have their task cut out for them to keep the players at their peak energy levels. Team Physio Evan Speechly gave valuable insights into the preparation from a medical perspective. “For Saturday, we need to get some ice towels, so we can give it to the guys on the boundary. We’re gonna rehydrate them well. Just gonna make sure there’s proper hydration, ready to go on the field when it’s hot,” he explained.

How does the medical staff ensure that the players are well prepared ahead of an afternoon game? “We’ve got special drinks that we give to the guys. We’re gonna make sure that for 24 hours before the game, they properly hydrate themselves, so when they get there, they’ll be properly hydrated. And it’s important that they’re aware they need to drink all the time. But generally, the body knows when you need to drink, and it’s not like you have to force it down. But we do have to go on every time there’s a break, and run on. It will be our 12th man and some of our medical staff might be going around the boundary, just to ensure that the guys are properly hydrated. And then we also need to keep their core temperature down and we do that using ice towels and things like that,” he further elaborated.