143 players picked in Ultimate Kho Kho draft ahead of debut season

The game of Kho Kho is set to enter a new era as a total of Indias 143 best players were handpicked by six franchises on Thursday for the inaugural edition of the Ultimate Kho Kho in Pune Indias firstever franchisebased KhoKho league promoted by Chairman of Dabur India Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India will be played from August 14 to September 4 at the Balewadi Stadium hereA total of 240 registered players from 28 states and union territories 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 leagueThe 77top players from Category A offered Rs 5 lakh and the South Asian Games gold medallist Pratik Waikar Andhra Pradeshs Pothireddy Sivareddy Tamil Nadus M Vignesh and Karantakas 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 pick Chennai Quick Guns added local boy Vignesh to their squad The 26yearold allrounder and one of the best pole divers in the country Sivareddy will represent the Gujarat sideA viewerfriendly revamped format is expected to bring about a transformation in how this indigenous sport is perceived in the country Finally the Ultimate Kho Kho drafts are over and it was a wellrounded draft which comprises players across the countryWe 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 Now that the franchises will get to work with the players camp and the coaching camp till August 1 our endeavor at Ultimate Kho Kho will be to market the game and make this league a grand success said Ultimate Kho Kho CEO Tenzing Niyogi at the end of players draftIt was Maharashtras Mahesh Shinde who became the first player to be picked in the historic players draft The 27yearold defender was drafted by KLO Sportsowned Chennai Quick Guns We have a balanced squad of experienced and 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 coowner Srinath ChittooriWe had some strategies we had some players we wanted to select We had a plan A B and plan C Some players which were in our plan A were already picked by other teams but obviously because we have multiple plans and we knew the right strategy I think a good squad of 24 people for Mumbai Khiladis is readyI feel it is a very balanced team The approach is very clear Mumbai Khiladis and their punchline is Khel Khila Denge so we know well tell our Khiladis to play their best and go and top the ladder said Punit Balan coowner of the Mumbai teamChennai Quick Guns Gujarat Giants Mumbai Khiladis Odisha Juggernauts Rajasthan Warriors Telugu Yoddhas did their best to pick strong squads as they will fight for the title in Season 1 Being the first season we have relied on the coaches input and who have gone ahead and suggested names So we have taken a lot of players from the senior category which is A and B then have blended them with a lot of youngsters in C and D So 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 said Colonel Vinod Bisht CEO GMR League Games who owns Telugu YoddhasAlso Read On Kabaddi Day former India captains suggest roadmap for successAs far as we are concerned from the Rajasthan Warrior side I think we had a very satisfying draft 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 I think we will give a very 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 said Ajit Sharan Director Capri Global who owns Rajasthan WarriorsA 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 an exciting playoff format which will consist of qualifier and eliminator matchesUltimate Kho kho is a very good opportunity for our Odisha KhoKho team We have been doing very well in junior levels and as the Odisha government has owned a franchise now its an opportunity for us to contribute to the growth of this game I think our team is better than all other teams because we have chosen very good players and mostly we got around 8037 of our listed players said Lilan Prasad Sahu OSD Dept of Sports and Youth Affairs Govt of OdishaWe are excited to contribute to this gamechanging experience through our franchise at 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 to 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 to have aptly strategized and selected the desired talent from a pool of 240 players said Satyam Trivedi Adani Sportsline which owns Gujarat GiantsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever