ISL 2023-24: Rising temperatures a new challenge for teams, amid heatwave warnings

As the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs are battling it out in a tense battle for the League shield and playoff places in the final week of the regular season, they will have to do it the hard way by sweating it out in extreme heat conditions around the country.

Several states across India are experiencing heatwaves with temperatures touching record numbers in the last week.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country is set to witness a harsh summer, and several regions will undergo heatwaves up to 10-20 days, compared to the usual four to eight days.

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Heatwave warnings have been issued in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Odisha, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi and Bengaluru – nine of the 11 centres in the ISL with temperatures soaring as high as 42 degrees in these regions.

The current Indian top-flight season is unique due to the length of the tournament from previous years. The latest an ISL season finished, was on March 20, 2022, but the 10th edition of the tournament is set to culminate in the first week of May. Last year, the ISL season finish was followed by the returning Super Cup in April.

The ISL teams have had to adjust to remain injury-free and adapt to these adverse conditions during their travels. While the matches are played predominantly at 7.30 pm, including a few 5 pm kick-offs, the teams have to deal with the humidity and dehydration. For its part, ISL still enforces the water breaks in each half – which were introduced as part of the playing conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

League leader Mumbai City FC overcame Odisha FC in a tightly fought contest at home on Monday night.

“We try to adapt, and the local players born here obviously adapt better,” said Mumbai City coach Petr Kratky. “Last week, when we played in Hyderabad, it was very hot compared to this week, it was very different, maybe 5-6 degrees. We need to adapt with nutrition, sleep and training at certain hours, so we don’t expose them to the heat. But at the end of the day, both teams have the same conditions.”

Jose Carlos Barosso, FC Goa’s strength and conditioning coach gave an insight into the Gaurs’ preparation during this period.

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“In these situations, the fluids the players lose is normally double the amount of usual, but because of our methods, it’s not so much – it’s only about 1.4-1.5x of usual because we insist they keep themselves hydrated pre-, during and post-sessions – not only with water but also with electrolytes, protein and BCAA’s (Branched-Chain Amino Acid) which will help to keep them healthy. The body needs to maintain its levels of sodium, potassium and different vitamins and minerals to keep functioning at its best,” said Barosso.

Chennaiyin FC, aiming to make the playoffs for the first time in four years, travelled to Kolkata 15 days before its match against Mohun Bagan to acclimatise to the weather. Chennaiyin beat the Mariners 3-2 with a 97th-minute match-winner.

“There’s no doubt the heat kicks on from March. When we arrived back [from international break], we reported to Kolkata on March 16 to prepare for the match in the heat and humidity against Mohun Bagan on the 31st. We looked so strong and worked so hard in that heat. We trained at 9-10 am in Kolkata because I knew how hot it was going to be,” said Chennaiyin head coach Owen Coyle.

CFC then followed it up with a comeback 2-1 win over Jamshedpur FC at home last week in a late evening clash with the temperature as high as 27 degrees. The two-time ISL champion usually does its training from 10 am in the city where temperatures during the last seven days have touched as high as 40 degrees.

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“In Chennai, I don’t think it was the same humidity as Kolkata, but certainly it’s a couple of degrees warmer. It’s not easy to play in these conditions at an elite level. Hopefully, that will stand us in good stead. Normally, it finishes in March, and IPL starts. But because of the national break, every team is going to be tested in this heat for sure,” the Scotsman cautioned.

With a potential league decider and playoffs around the corner, teams will need to monitor their players closely and calibrate their training methods in the coming weeks to get the best out of them..