143 players selected in Ultimate Kho-Kho players’ draft

The tournament, played at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune, 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 performance in international matches, recent national championships and evaluation conducted by the league.

Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Players, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors, Telugu Warriors will be the six teams competing in the tournament. 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 the playoff format.

77 top players from Category A offered 5 lakhs. South Asian Games gold medalist Prateek Viker; Pothireddy Sivareddy of Andhra Pradesh; Tamil Nadu’s M Vignesh and Karnataka’s Gautam MK are among the 20 players selected by the franchise.

While Vikar and defender Gautam were picked as their first choices by Telugu Warriors and Odisha Juggernauts respectively; Chennai Quick Guns added M Vignesh to their team. The 26-year-old all-rounder Shivreddy will represent Gujarat.

“We are really happy to see this first step in the progress of creating a mega league in the Indian sports ecosystem. Now that the franchises will get a chance to work with the players’ camp and coaching camp till August 1, our endeavor at Ultimate Kho Kho will be to market the game and make this league a resounding success.”

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

“We have a balanced squad of experienced and young players, so we are happy with that. Hopefully, during the training we will analyze their capabilities, on the basis of which we will form a team. With the number of matches, we will know how our team is built,” said Srinath Chitturi, co-owner of Chennai Quick Guns.

Puneet Balan, co-owner of Mumbai team said, “We have a good squad of 24 people ready for our team. It’s a very balanced team.”

Col Vinod Bisht, CEO GMR Sports, which owns Telugu Yoddha, said, “Being the first season, we have relied on the inputs of the coaches and who have gone ahead and suggested names. We have taken a lot of players in the senior category, A and B, mixed them with a lot of young players in C and D. We are hopeful that with the experience and the great momentum that the youth gives, we will be able to do well in the first season.”

“I think I am pretty sure that we will be able to come up with a very successful team and a very mature team in the coming season. We will give a tough fight to anyone and of course, it depends on what That’s how we manage the team which I am sure we will do very well,” said Ajit Sharan, Director, Capri Global which owns Rajasthan Warriors.

Leelan Prasad Sahu, OSD, Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Odisha, said, “We have picked very good players and we have got around 80% of our enlisted players.”

Companies like Adani Sportsline expect indigenous sports in a new avatar to be very successful. “Choosing the right team is integral to the success of a franchise and a lot depends on the order of the draft. But thanks to our coaches for making the right strategy and selecting the desired talent from the pool of 240 players.”

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