143 players picked in the Ultimate Kho Kho’s players draft

The tournament, set to be played in Pune’s Balewadi Stadium, had 240 registered players from 28 states and union territories who were part of the draft process. 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.

Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors, Telugu Yoddhas will be the six teams to compete in the tournament. A total of 34 matches will be played over the period of 21 days in the first season of the league. The knockout matches will be played in a playoff format.

The 77-top players from category A were offered ₹5 lakh. South Asian Games’ gold medalist Pratik Waikar; Andhra Pradesh’s Pothireddy Sivareddy; Tamil Nadu’s M Vignesh and Karnataka’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 respectively; Chennai Quick Guns added M Vignesh to their squad. The 26-year-old all-rounder Sivareddy will represent the Gujarat side.

“We are really happy to see this first step in the progression of creating a mega league in the Indian sporting ecosystem. Now that the franchises will get to work with the players‘ camp and the coaching camp till August 1, our endeavour at Ultimate Kho Kho will be to market the game and make this league a grand success,” the league’s CEO Tenzing Niyogi said at the end of players draft.

Maharashtra’s Mahesh Shinde became the first player to be picked in the draft. The 27-year-old defender was drafted by KLO Sports-owned Chennai Quick Guns.

“We have a balanced squad of experienced as well as youthful players, so we are happy with it. Hopefully, during training, we will analyse their abilities based on that we will form a team. With the number of matches, we will know how to form our team, ” said Chennai Quick Guns’ co-owner Srinath Chittoori.

Punit Balan, co-owner of the Mumbai team said, “A good squad of 24 people for our team is ready. It is a very balanced team.”

Colonel Vinod Bisht, CEO GMR Sports which owns Telugu Yoddhas added, “Being the first season, we have relied on the coach’s input and who have gone ahead and suggested names. We have taken a lot of players from the senior category, A and B, have blended them with a lot of younger players in C and D. We hope that with the experience and the youth which gives the bigger speed, we will be able to do well in the first season.”

“We are I think quite sure that we will be able to come up with a very successful team and very mature team in the season to come. We will give a tough fight to whoever it is and of course, it depends on how we manage the team which I ensure we will do very well,” Ajit Sharan, director, Capri Global that owns Rajasthan Warriors.

“We have chosen very good players and we have got around 80% of our listed players,” said Lilan Prasad Sahu, OSD, department of sports and youth affairs, Government of Odisha.

Companies like Adani Sportsline expect the indigenous sport in a new avatar will be very successful. “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 having aptly strategized and selected the desired talent from a pool of 240 players,” said Satyam Trivedi, head of Adani Sportsline which owns Gujarat Giants.

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