143 players selected in Ultimate Kho Kho Season 1 players draft

Kho Kho is set to enter a new era as a total of India’s 143 best players were hand-picked by six franchises on Thursday (July 14). The inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho will be held from August 14 to September 4 at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune.

India’s first-ever franchise-based Kho Kho League, promoted by the Chairman of Dabur India, Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India, will be a feast for kho kho fans.

A total of 240 registered players from 28 states and union territories were part of the draft. They were divided into four categories, A, B, C and D, according to their performances in international matches, the recent National Championships and evaluation conducted by the league.

The 77-top kho kho players from Category A were offered Rs 5 lakhs each. South Asian Games gold medalist Pratik Waikar, Andhra Pradesh’s Pothireddy Sivareddy, Tamil Nadu’s M Vignesh and Karantaka’s Gowtham MK were among the 20 players who were handpicked by the franchises.

While Waikar and defender Gowtham were picked by Telugu Yoddhas and Odisha Juggernauts, respectively, as their first picks, Chennai Quick Guns added local boy Vignesh to their squad. The 26-year-old all-rounder and one of the best pole divers in the country, Sivareddy will represent the Gujarat side.

The viewer-friendly revamped format is expected to bring about a transformation in how this indigenous sport is perceived in the country.

Ultimate Kho Kho CEO Tenzing Niyogi said at the end of the draft:

“Finally, the Ultimate Kho Kho drafts are over and it was a well-rounded draft which comprises of players across the country. We are really happy and proud to see this first step in the progression of creating Ultimate Kho Kho as a mega league in the Indian sporting ecosystem."

"The franchises will get to work with the players' camp and the coaching camp until August 1. Our endeavor at Ultimate Kho Kho will be to market the game and make this league a grand success."

Mahesh Shinde became the first player to get chosen in the Ultimate Kho Kho draft

Mumbai Khiladis co-owners Punil Balan (2nd left) and popular singer Badshah during the draft in Pune. (Pic credit: Ultimate Kho Kho)

Experienced campaigner Mahesh Shinde was the first player to get selected in the draft. The 27-year-old defender was drafted by KLO Sports-owned Chennai Quick Guns.

Speaking about the draft, Chennai Quick Guns co-owner Srinath Chittoori said:

“We have a balanced squad of experienced and youthful players, so we are happy with it. Hopefully, during training, we will analyze their abilities based on the fact that we will form a team. With the number of matches we will know how to form our team."

Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors, and Telugu Yoddhas did their best to pick strong squads as they fight for the title.

Explaining his side's approach to the draft, the co-owner of the Mumbai team, Punit Balan said:

"We had some strategies, we had some players we wanted to select. We had a plan A, B and a plan C. Some players in our plan A were already picked by other teams but obviously because we have multiple plans and we know the right strategy, I think a good squad of 24 people for Mumbai Khiladis is ready.

"I feel like it is a very balanced team. The approach is very clear, Mumbai Khiladis and their punchline is Khel Khila Denge, so we know we'll tell our Khiladis to play their best and go and top the ladder."

Colonel Vinod Bisht, the CEO of GMR League Games who own Telugu Yoddhas, talked about how the coaches' input played a role in the draft. He said:

"Being the first season we have relied on the coaches' input and who have gone ahead and suggested names. We have taken a lot of players from the senior category, which is A and B, and have blended them with a lot of youngsters in C and D."

Ajit Sharan, the director of Capri Global who own Rajasthan Warriors, was also satisfied with his side's performance in the draft. He opined:

"As far as we are concerned from the Rajasthan Warriors side, I think we had a very satisfying draft. I think we are quite sure that we will be able to come up with a very successful and very mature team in the season to come. I think we will give a very tough fight to whoever it is."

A total of 34 matches will be played over a period of 21 days in the first season of the league. The knockout matches will be played in an exciting playoff format, which will consist of qualifier and eliminator matches.

Speaking about the new league, Lilan Prasad Sahu, OSD, Dept of Sports and Youth Affairs, Govt of Odisha said:

“Ultimate Kho Kho is a very good opportunity for our Odisha Kho-Kho team. We have been doing very well at the junior level and as the Odisha government owns a franchise now, it's an opportunity for us to contribute towards the growth of the game. I think our team is better than all the other teams because we have chosen very good players and mostly we got around 80% of our listed players."

For kho kho players in the country, it is a big boost as they will not only earn money but also face all the top players in the country.

Satyam Trivedi of Adani Sportsline, which owns Gujarat Giants, also highlighted the importance of the new league and said:

"We are excited to contribute to this game-changing experience through our franchise in the UKK League. UKK will bring forth our indigenous sport in a new avatar, and we look forward to being a part of yet another journey of mud on the mat.

"The right team selection is integral to the success of a franchise and a lot depends upon the sequence of the draft. But thanks to our coaches for aptly strategizing and selecting the desired talent from a pool of 240 players."

Ultimate Kho Kho squad details

An exhibition match was played before the draft in Pune. (Pic credit: Ultimate Kho Kho)

Chennai Quick Guns

Mahesh Shinde, Rajvardhan Patil, M Vignesh, Ramji Kashyap, Patta Narsaya, S Santhru, Sibin M, Amit Patil, Manoj Patil, Daasari Rao, V Kabilan, Madan, P Jai Prasath, P Anand Kumar, Buchannagari Raju, Vijay Vegad, Sachin Gaur, Pritam Chougule, Balvir Singh, Katla Mohan, Venugopal S, Neelakantam Suresh, Jaswant Singh, Vignesh M

Telugu Yoddhas

Pratik Waikar, Rohan Shingade, Sudarshan, Arun S A, Arun Gunki, Deepak Madhav, Avdhut Patil, Prajwal KH, Prajval KH, Adarsh Mohite, Prasad Radye, Subramani Y, Anukul Sarkar, Gavara Venkatesh, Sadanand Meitei, P Hemachandran, Dhruv, Chanish C, Aditya Das, Rokeson Singh, Pitu Reddy, Bojjam Ranjith

Gujarat Giants

Ranjan Shetty, Pothreddy Shivareddy, Mareppa, Suyash Gargate, Sagar Potdar, T Jagannath Das, Rutishbhai Barde, Abhinandan Patil, Akshay Bhangare, Sagar Lengare, Monoj Sarkar, Dhiraj Bhave, S Kavin Raj, Vinayak Pokarde, Govind Bhat, Chinmoy Nandi, Shubham Jambhale, S Sarathkumar, Ajaykumar Mandra, Aniket Pote, Nilesh Patil, Saleem Khan, Debendra Nath, Praful Bhange

Juggernaut Odisha

Gowtham MK, Dilip Khandavi, Vishal, Jagannatha Murmu, Aditya Kudale, Nilesh Jadhav, Suraj Lande, Dipesh More, Subhasis Santra, Mahesha P, Avinash Desai, Lipun Mukhi, Dinesh Naik S, Arjun Singh, Suresh Kumar, T Vinod Kumar, Shiv Kumar Sen, Milind Chavrekar, Manoj Ghotekar, Darshanapu Sathish, Gurjinder Singh, Swayam Satyaprakash, Mukesh Prajapat

Rajasthan Warriors

Abhijit Patil, Dilrajsingh Sengar, Sushant Hajare, Akshay Ganpule, Hrushikesh Murchavade, Sourabh Adavkar, Suresh Sawant, Majahar Jamadar, Mohammad Taseen, Shailesh Sankapal, Govind Yadav, SK Murtha Ali, Bharat Pradhan, Nikhil B, Yalla Satish, Jithin B, K Dhananjay Singh, Atla Reddy, Tapan Pal, Mahesh M, Biswajit Das, Ashwani Ranjan, Mukesh Maurya, Bhuvneshwar Sahu

Mumbai Khiladis

Milind Kurpe, Rohan Kore, Visag S, Shreejesh S, Vijay Hazare, Faizalkhan Pathan, Abhishek Pathrode, Gajanan Shengal, Durvesh Salunke, Rajesh Kumar, Rohit Verma, Avik Singha, Sribin KP, Saurav Kandpal, Abhishek MS, Bichu SS, Rajat Malik, Rahul Sawant, Harish Mohammad, Devendra Dagur, Gaurav, Srijin, Ummer Rather