The Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) is all set for Season 2 as the country’s best 145 players, including 33 young talents from the range of 16 to 18 years of age, were hand-picked by six franchises during the Players Draft conducted in Bhubaneshwar.
Adding more energy and speed into the squad, teams made interesting choices with a focus on giving opportunity to promising youngsters as Mumbai Khiladis ensured the services of the 16-year-old Sunil Patra from Odisha, while 17-year-old M Mugilan of Puducherry and Maharashtra’s Ganesh Borkar was drafted by Chennai Quick Guns and Rajasthan Warriors respectively.
Interestingly, it was Maharashtra’s Mahesh Shinde, who became the first pick of the draft for the second season in a row. The 28-year-old defender was drafted by Mumbai Khiladis, which also retained Gajanan Shengal and Sreejesh S after their impressive performances in the inaugural edition of the league.
Defending champions Odisha Juggernauts also ensured a perfect balance of youth and experience as they selected a strong squad.
While the retained players were offered ₹6 lakh each, franchises picked their remaining players from four categories—A (₹5 lakh), B (₹3 lakh), C (₹1.5 lakh) and D (₹1 lakh). Gujarat Giants and Rajasthan Warriors drafted 25 and 22 players respectively to complete their squads.
A total of 290 players were registered for the Season 2 Players Draft from 18 states as franchises spent ₹3.9 crore to draft 145 players including 18 retained players. Vijay Hajare, Adhithya Ganpule and Laxman Gawas were among the star players who were handpicked first by Rajasthan Warriors (owned by Capri Global), Telugu Yoddhas and Chennai Quick Guns (owned by KLO Sports), respectively.
The thrilling action from Season 2 of India’s first-ever franchise-based Kho-Kho league will be broadcasted live on Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI)’s sports channels as well as livestream on Sony LIV.
Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 Complete Squads:
Odisha Juggernauts: Dilip Khandvi (Retained), Dipesh More (Retained), Gowtham MK (Retained), Vishal (Retained), Omkar Sonawane, Rohan Shingade, Akshay Masal, Mahesha P, Manoj Patil, Avinash Desai, Manoj Kumar, Visag S, Debendra Nath, Nikhil Kumar, Vishal Oram, Sanjay Kumar V, Deepak Kumar Sahoo, Nikhil B, MD Mirajul, Sushant Kaldhone, Sobhag V Sriganda, Niranjan Samal, Savir Ahmad, Suresh Kumar and Siddheswar Tudu.
Telugu Yoddhas: Arun Gunki (Retained), Avdhut Patil (Retained), Pratik Waikar (Retained), Adhithya Ganpule, Rahul Mandal, Nikhil Waghe, Milind Chavrekar, Akash Togare, Kiran Vasave, Dhruv, Prasad Radye, Rudra Thopate, Prem Randive, Vaibhav Nippane, Sourabh Adavkar, Vijaybhai Vegad, Anukul Sarkar, M Phani Kumar, Mahamad Ujer Harun Momin, Matlum, Lipun Mukhi, Arjun Bishukarma, Prasad Patil, Bojjam Ranjith and Rajat Malik.
Chennai Quick Guns: Amit Patil (Retained), Madan (Retained), Ramji Kashyap (Retained), Laxman Gawas, Adarsh Mohite, Sachin Bhargo, Zora Suraj, Suraj Lande, Aditya Kudale, Durvesh Salunke, Chandu Chavre, Akash Kadam, Narendra Katkate, Mustafa Bagwan, Arjun Singh, Vijay Shinde, Ashish Patel, M Mugilan, Akash Balyan, Sumon Barman, Pavan Kumar and Giri S.
Rajasthan Warriors: Akshay Ganpule (Retained), Dilrajsing Sengar (Retained), Majahar Jamadar (Retained), Vijay Hajare, Jaggannath Das, Rushab Wagh, Nilesh Patil, Prajwal K H, Brahmane Vivek, Ranjan Shetty, Rejeti Surinaidu, Sourabh Gadge, Nandan D, Ganesh Borkar, Bika Chetan, Buchannagari Raju, Dhanraj P, Jagannath Murmu, Aditya Shelke, Mukesh Prajapat, Vaibhav More and Aditya KN.
Gujarat Giants: Abhinandan Patil (Retained), Akshay Bhangare (Retained), Suyash Gargate (Retained), Nilesh Jadhav, P Narasayya, Faizankha Pathan, Rajvardhan Patil, V Subramani, Deepak Madhav, Shubham Thorat, Gavara Venkatesh, Sanket Kadam, Kondhalkar Rupesh, Bharat Kumar, Pabani Sabar, Vinayak Pokarde, Ram Mohan, V Kabilan, Arnav Patankar, Alfaj H Nadaf, Vasave Ravi, Abhijit Patil, Saleem Khan, Vijesh Kumar and Harish Mohmmad.
Mumbai Khiladis: Gajanan Shengal (Retained), Sreejesh S (Retained), Mahesh Shinde, Aniket Pote, Subhasis Santra, Hrushikesh Murchavade, Rokeson Singh, P Siva Reddy, Govind Yadav, Avik Singha, Milind Kurpe, Sunil Patra, Sudheer Kumar, MD Aiman Pasha, Sagar Potdar, Rohan Kore, Komal, Pawar Sachin, Dhiraj Bhave, Debasis, Shiva, Ajay Kashyap, Pritam Chougule, Sibin M, Abhishek Pathrode and Parmar Rahul.