Ultimate Kho-Kho franchise Telugu Yoddhas, who finished runners-up last time around, are aiming to go one better in the new season after assembling a formidable squad, picking up some key players in the recently held draft at Bhubaneshwar.
Telugu Yoddhas, have picked 25 players in their squad for upcoming season, including three players who were retained from the previous edition of the league. This season’s squad has a combination of some exciting upcoming talent along with some experienced faces of the sport.
First season’s standout performers, all-rounders Arun Gunki and Pratik Waikar and defender Avdhut Patil, were retained ahead of the draft to form a strong core for the squad. The player draft for the second season of the Ultimate Kho Kho was held in the capital city of Odisha on 21st November. The sequence of the picks was based on the final standings of the teams in the inaugural season of the league. Out of the 275 players that were in fray for the drafts, 127 of them were selected by the different franchisees.
Speaking about the second season of the Ultimate Kho Kho, Mr. PKSV Sagar, CEO, GMR League Games Pvt. Ltd. said, “I am very excited for this season as it would be my first since I’ve taken over at GMR Sports. The draft rounds are really interesting and exciting. This is still at a nascent stage for a private league as it started just last year, but over time, I am sure we will help in building this game with our academies just the way we put efforts with Kabaddi.”
Telugu Yoddhas picked all- rounder, Adhithya Ganpule and attacker, Rahul Mansaram Mandal from the Category A players after their impressive performances in the inaugural season of the league. Category A players will receive 6 lakhs each.
The Yoddhas picked Nikhil Siddharan Waghe, Milind Chavrekar, Akash Togare, Kiran Vasave, Dhruv and Prasad Radye from Category B and will receive five lakhs each. Telugu Yoddhas picked ten players from Category C who will receive three lakhs each. Rudra Thopate, Prem Balu Randive, Vaibhav Nippane, Saurabh Adavkar, Viijaybhai Vegad, Anukul Sarkar, M Phani Kumar, Mahamad Ujer Harun Momin, Matlum, and Lipun Mukhi were picked from this category. Four players were picked from Category D who will receive 1.5 lakhs each. Arjun Bishukarma, Prasad Patil, Bojjam Ranjith and Rajat Malik were picked in the final rounds of the draft completing the 25 member strong Yoddhas squad for the season.
In the inaugural season of the Ultimate Kho Kho, Telugu Yoddhas put up a dominating performance throughout the league with their offensive gameplay. They stood at third position in the league standings, winning six out of their ten matches. They had the highest point difference amongst all the teams. They stomped their way to the finals after winning the Eliminator and the Qualifier 2 rounds, but missed out on the cup by just one point, against Odisha Juggernauts.
Telugu Yoddhas Squad for UKK Season 2
All Rounders: Arun Gunki, Pratik Waikar, Milind Chavrekar, Anukul Sarkar, Vasave Kiran, Matlum, Arjun Bishukama, Adhithya Ganpule, Mahamad Ujer Harun Momin.
Attackers: Lipun Mukhi, Saurabh Adavkar, Vaibhav Nippane, M Phani Kumar, Rahul Mansaram Mandal, Nikhil Siddharam Waghe, Rudra Thopate, Akash Togare, Prem Balu Randive.
Defenders: Avdhut Patil, Prasad Patil, Viijaybhai Vegad, Rajat Malik, Bojjam Ranjith, Dhruv, Prasad Radye.
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