The player auction for second season of Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) was successfully held in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, November 21. Six franchises drafted from players. 30 are selected in A category Rs 6 lakh each, B category 36 players at Rs. 5 lakh each, in category C 55 players in Rs 3 lakh each,in category D 24 in Rs 1.5 lakh.
Odisha Juggernauts, Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Rajasthan Warriors, and Telugu Yoddhas were the six teams that will be participating in the tournament. With a total allotted purse of INR 3.90 crore, combinations with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 35 players. 18 players were retained by the 6 teams.
Franchisees were given the option to choose players based on their respective draft sequence and purse capacity. In all, 245 players were in the pool and they had been divided into three segments. The 18 players retained by the franchisees were called the Power Players category. Players who were part of Season 1 but had not been retained are known as Pole Players. The League offered platform to new talents by putting them in the Dream Player category.
The new set of players recommended either by the franchisees or the Kho Kho Federation of India are called Dream Players. Defending champion Odisha Juggernauts retained four players from the last season, while Chennai Quick Guns retained three players, including Player of the Tournament Ramji Kashyap and Young Player of the Tournament Madan.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Giants held on to the Defender of the Tournament, Abhinandan Patil, among two others. Mumbai Khiladis retained two players, Gajanan Shengal and Sreejesh S, from the previous season. The other two teams, the Rajasthan Warriors and Telugu Yoddhas, retained three players each.
Kho-kho Federation of India President Sudhanshu Mittal said, “Ultimate Kho Kho has provided international recognition to the sport which earlier belonged to rural areas or communities. Today it has gained popularity and because of this sport players are getting jobs, awards and admission in colleges. This game will soon be getting international recognition.”
He added, “Today at the draft event, I felt like dream for Kho Kho coming true. This year we didn’t increase the money in the draft but from the third season we will be doing the auctioning. This will add value to the game.” He said season two of Ultimate Kho Kho aims to infuse new life into the ancient Indian game.
After a grand success of season one, league is all set to return with its second edition (Season-2) scheduled between 24th December 2023 and 14th January 2024 in Cuttack, Continuing this exhilarating journey, the upcoming season promises even more excitement and talent.
