Taking advantage of Ultimate Kho Kho's innovative concept of wazir, West Bengal's Subhasis Santra and Maharashtra's Abhinandhan Patil have caught the attention of many with their remarkable performances in the inaugural edition of the league. While Santra plays for Odisha Juggernauts, Patil is part of Gujarat Giants.
Wazir is one of the league's exciting innovations wherein an attacker is allowed to move freely in any direction unlike any other players.Both Santra and Patil have contributed greatly to their respective team’s success this season and have been among the Top-2 wazirs in the league so far. While the 20-year-old Santra is placed on the top position with 38 points, Patil is second on the list with 35 points.
A son of a farmer, Santra is keen to perform consistently for his team and consolidate top position.“I want to keep performing well so that I can maintain this position. However, this is a team game and these [individual achievements] will not make any sense if your team is not winning. I will try to contribute more to the team,” said Santra.
Mumbai Khiladis’ Durvesh Salunke is the third best wazir in the league with 30 points. Patil, a member of the Indian team which clinched gold medal at the 2019 South Asian Games, has impressed in the defence as well by remaining not out on six occasions—the most for any player in the league so far.“It feels good to be one of the top performers in the league. I have scored all these points with only touch and I believe I can score more points if I attempt dives,” said Patil, who has won 24 touch points.
On Tuesday, Mumbai Khiladis will clash with Telugu Yoddhas while Gujarat Giants will take on Chennai Quick Guns in the second match of the day. Ultimate Kho Kho is promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India. The Season 1 of the league has been taking place at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Pune, Maharashtra.