Aussie cricketers barely survive scorching Kolkata heat, use GPS trackers to monitor fitness

New Delhi: Probably Virat Kohli's masterclass at Eden Gardens might have deviated your concentration towards a possible overhaul of Ricky Ponting's ODI century tally. Or, with Kuldeep Yadav bagging a stunning hat-trick in his second spell, you must have leaped with joy as India closed in on yet another ODI win. But did you stop to wonder how the cloudy, overcast sky turned golden as the sun waked in, making it difficult for the Australian team to battle it out in the second ODI.

"Rain threat looms large over Eden Gardens ahead of second ODI" – this was what the news read as, as the two teams headed to Kolkata. In fact, the rain and thunder had even ruined their practice session. While Team India resolved to football practice on the sidelines, Aussies went indoor. Even on the day of the match, weather forecast spoke about chances of rain. But all turned out to be mere fake news, when the sun walked in, probably for even himself to witness the great rivalry at Eden Gardens. Although, for the Aussies, they struggled under the scorching heat.

With the 'apparent temperature' reading as 42 degrees celsius, the pacers found it difficult to sprint. Both Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile had taken a while's rest after their opening spell and later on Kane Richardson too needed some assistance. He had in fact put on a GPS tracking vest, so that Australia's strength and conditioning coach could track his fitness. Even Mathew Wade, the wicketkeeper, needed help from the physio during the 13th over of India's innings for which the over had witnessed a bit of delay.

A similar situation had happened during the Bangladesh series in August. Peter Handscomb required some aid during the second match in Chittagong.

But, it was truly commendable how the team beat the heat to script a fightback as the pace duo of Coulter-Nile and Richardson bagged three each to restrict India to an around-par 252. However, Australia failed to shine with the bat as Steve Smith-led side went down to lose by 50 runs.