Kho Kho league lets players dream of better future

While it’s too early to predict what the future holds for Ultimate Kho Kho, players associated with the league are hoping that it ushers in a new era for the sport.

They hope that it can be looked at as a career option, along the lines of Pro Kabaddi League. They also hope the league's success will lead to more job opportunities, more local tournaments, and with it, increased prize money.

Subasis Chandra, 19, from West Midnapore, West Bengal, says he doesn’t have “worry anymore about making it as a career choice”. For 32-year-old Ranjan Shetty from Thane, Maharashtra, it has motivated him further “to keep on playing for another few years”.

All are hoping that the league helps Kho-Kho finally shed its traditional sports image and go mainstream.

Pratik Waikar, 30, who hails from Pune and is among the top players in Maharashtra, says that Kho-Kho’s popularity at the local level will make it an instant hit when it will be televised across India.

“There is a lot of excitement among the Kho-Kho fraternity. We first heard about it (the league) four years ago and now it is closer to reality. Players have started putting in more effort. Family members are eager to see us on television, and junior players are looking up to us to set a platform,” says Waikar.

“Lot of institutions have started hiring Kho-Kho players. Now that it will be on television, it will bring glamour to the sport, similar to what it did to kabaddi. I hope this league will change the perspective and players will start believing that, “Yes, you can make a career out of it”. This will bring a drastic change to the way the sport is looked at,” adds Waikar.

Most players were of the opinion that it will no longer be considered as an extracurricular sport, players won’t quit playing after school or college or in their mid-20s and parents won’t hesitate from encouraging them to choose it as a career option.

Another Pune player Akshay Ganpule, 24, almost decided to quit sports when he couldn’t land a job at Indian Railways. He finally managed to get through last year and is now posted at Bilaspur Division of the South East Central Railway. Reason? “There are not many options if you don’t get a job in government institutions,” he says.

“I didn’t have any pressure from home, but then there are many of my age who quit once they see no future and take up private jobs. The league has given people like me the motivation to play for many more years. If you play at the international level, you make some money but it’s still very less. Family members are circumspect but they are excited to see me on television. Hopefully, in the next few years it will grow in a similar way that kabaddi has grown,” says Ganpule, who was part of the Railways squad that won the 2021 Nationals.

Shetty, who got a job at Railways when he was 20, says: “Not only junior players will be attracted towards the sport but senior players will also put in more effort to stay competitive.”

For Chandra, it has come as a blessing in disguise. “I started playing Kho-Kho because I got hooked to it, the first time I saw it. A lot of friends from our maidan have quit playing, people taunted me as well “kya career banayega Kho-Kho se (what career you will make out from this sport”. Now there is hope.”

The draft for the inaugural season was held in Pune on Wednesday and the 21-day league will kick off from August 14 at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune. Six teams, Chennai Quick Guns (KLO Sports), Gujarat Giants (Adani Sportsline), Mumbai Khiladis (Badshah & Punit Balan), Odisha Juggernauts (Government of Odisha), Rajasthan Warriors (Capri Global), and Telugu Yoddhas (GMR Sports), will take part in the inaugural season.

The players are optimistic and the promotors have managed to create a buzz. The next challenge for them will be to make it sustainable, and viewer-friendly, and package it well. After all, we have seen many leagues mushroom in India over the years but not many have turned into an IPL or PKL.

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