'It’s hot, humid:' Rohan Bopanna

Sweating profusely Rohan Bopanna says ldquoIf I am sweating and changing my Tshirt during a training session something is seriously wrongrdquo If Thursdayrsquos training session is an indication of what lies ahead for the Indian Davis Cup team in the World Group II tie against Morocco it will not be an exaggeration to say that more than the rivals itrsquos going to be the treacherous conditions that will test the fitness of the home playersThe severe humidity has turned the Mini Stadium into a lsquomini cauldronrsquo Bopannarsquos teammates know well that he does not sweat much not even in hot and humid conditions of ChennaiTwohour delay in playConsidering the weather the captains agreed to reschedule the matchtimings delaying it by two hours On Saturday the matches will begin at 2 pm instead of 12 noon and on Sunday the matches will begin at 1 pm instead of 11 amTo drive home his point the 43yearold told PTI ldquoFor the first time in 20 years Bopanna is sweating That means itrsquos humid I played five sets against Brazil in a singles match for four hours in one shirt but here in halfanhour I am changing itrsquos not rightrdquo Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni swiftly looked for a shade after playing a few points and Ramkumar Ramanathan asked the team physio Yash Pandey to quickly hand him a gatorade drink ldquoI want to stay hydratedrdquo he tells PandeyAlso Read No cartilage no problemThe temperature is only 33 degrees but it feels like 43 It had rained a few days back in the city causing such conditions Though the sun is not harsh humidity is making it extremely hard for the playersThe heat coming off the court is also making the conditions worse In such tough weather conditions a player loses about 23 litres of water every hour along with essential electrolytes like sodium chloride potassium and magnesiumldquoIf the equal amount of water and electrolytes are not replenished then within 30 minutes the performance will start dropping and eventually they cramprdquo explained Pandey who is trying to ensure that the players stay fit and hydratedMeanwhile the devastation back home caused by a deadly earthquake that killed close to 3000 people has jolted the Moroccan players ahead of their tie against India but visiting skipper Mehdi Tahiri said his team is determined to do welllsquoVery difficult to be awayrsquoldquoOur hearts and souls are with the people back home Itrsquos very difficult for us to be away in this tough situation A lot of people have lost their families We wanted to help people but unfortunately we are hererdquo said TahiriIndia skipper w Rajpal said he wonrsquot take Morocco lightly ldquoYes we are a stronger side but extremely humid conditions are a big challenge hererdquo he saidTeam India Sumit Nagal Sasikumar Mukund Digvijay Pratap Singh Yuki Bhambri Rohan Bopanna Captain Rohit RajpalTeam Morocco Elliot Benchetrit Yassine Dlimi Adam Moundir Walid Ahouda Younes Lalami Captain Mehdi TahiriCanada kick off title defence in styleCanada opened their title defence by downing Italy on the second day of Davis Cup final group stage action on Wednesday Canada stayed on course for the grand finale in Malaga next month courtesy of straight set wins in the opening singles by Alexis Galarneau and then Gabriel Diallo Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil then claimed a tense 67 47 64 76 73 win over Matteo Arnaldi and Simone Bolelli to defeat the Italians 30 in BolognaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever