South African skipper Temba Bavuma on Wednesday (8th June) talked about the challenges faced by his side in Delhi’s heat. He hilariously quipped that players are drinking more water than beer they drink at home

The five-match T20I series between India and South Africa is just a few hours away now. Players from both sides have put in the hard yards and have left no stone unturned in their preparation for the first game, which will be played in Delhi on 9th June. 

With summer lashing out in India, one of the biggest challenges for the players will be to keep themselves hydrated in conditions, where temperature is soaring well above 40 degrees celsius.

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Coming to the South African side, it wouldn’t be easy for them to quickly adapt in such conditions as they are not used to this much heat. 

Speaking to the media ahead of the first T20I, Bavuma talked about the difficulties his side is facing in Delhi’s heat.

"We expected it to be hot, but not this hot. We're fortunate that the games are being played at night, when it's bearable. During the day guys are trying to look after themselves as much as possible and drinking a lot more water than the normal beer they drink at home. [They're trying] to just keep as mentally fresh as they can,” Temba Bavuma said. 

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Bavuma said that they are not used to such kind of heat but they become familiar to the conditions only by playing matches. He said despite the high temperature, their main focus is on winning the match. 

"It's not something we're used to at home. Cramping, hydration and fatiguing are big things. You can only get used to it by actually playing in this type of heat. His advice to his players was to hydrate yourself as much as you can, manage your energies as much as you can, try and recover as well as you can in and around the games. Because, hot or not, there's a match to be won: Once you're in the game you've got to try and stay in the battle, and hopefully your body keeps up with everything,” he said. 

Bavuma also talked about the conditions at the ground. He said that his side assessed a few things by playing a practice game on the side wicket. 

"We got to play a practice game on one of the side wickets. [The bounce] was a bit lower than what we're used to back home, but it didn't really spin more than it stopped. It felt like it got better to bat on as the night went on,” he said. 

After the first game in Delhi, the second and third games will be played on the 12th and 14th of June in Cuttack and Vishakhapatnam respectively. The fourth and fifth match is slated to take place on the 17th and 19th of June in Rajkot and Bengaluru. 

(TimesNow inputs)