KhoKho :Journey from Mid 1990's to 2020
You can see that Kho-Kho is continuously changing with time. Earlier
Kho-Kho is silent in its features whether it's an attack, Defense, skills
etc. Kho-Kho is limited to certain states and countries 10-20 years back. As
Kho-Kho is pure Indian game it needs to be highlighted much before other
games but due to more adaptation of western games by players and higher
authorities is the only reason that Kho-Kho did not get that much speed in the
era of 1990 to 2000s but in last 3 or 4 years Kho-Kho is accelerating high across
Kho-Kho has seen lots of changes whether it's strategy, pace, ground, crowd,
popularity, people, tricks etc. In the era of '90 to 2000s Kho-Kho is purely bare
feet played in the mud ground, the size of the ground is bigger and players are
There are lots of skill involved that time and more senior players are into the
game than Junior because of more skill and techniques. Now the trend is
different as more youngster is in the team than seniors and shift of KhoKho
from mud to mat is the reason that players need extra force to perform and
game is more speedy than earlier as fouls are minimized to increase the speed.
Players of Top teams selected for Sr.National Team must have good experience
of local tournaments, junior nationals, sub-junior nationals and these
experiences of all tournaments create a player of open-mindedness and
The changes that are seen in the progress of Kho-Kho towards 2020 is
Earlier player which is well experienced and play lots of matches and
tournaments is able to get entry into Senior Nationals Tournament but now the
trend is changing with lots of youngsters are getting into major tournaments
on the basis of speed but lack in skills is the reason that fewer skills are seen in
the major tournaments and less use of mind and creativity is seen.
The technique that you saw in 10- 20 year back is totally skill-based, lots of
skills are seen into the game mostly defender is dragged towards the pole and
players sitting near the pole can accomplish skills to catch the defenders which
is the beauty of KhoKho.but in today's scenario these things are lacking
because the player is working on speed and fitness only and less experienced
players into the game. These things raise the injury cases and more changes of
attackers inside the game.
Earlier In a Fighting match good runners in men section can contribute
3-4 minutes but now a days player can contribute 1-2 minutes.
Whereas in women section earlier players contribute 4-5-6 minutes now a days
it reduces to 2-3 minutes because of more speed,less fouls, mats etc.
Dimensions of Khokho ground is continuously getting changes like Freezone is
now 1.5m which is more in older days.
Now in the era of internet and modern technology every match is
monitored closely and it will help another team to find the weakness and
strength of players to make a plan for their matches.
As Kho-Kho get a certain upward trend in the last two-three years
which help players to get benefit from it both financially as well as getting
better facilities in boarding and lodging in different tournaments.
No doubt publicity of a Kho-Kho player through social media and promo shoots
is increased and players are becoming more popular.
As Kho-Kho is now at international level with the increase of foreign nationals
to adapt this game with the rise of popularity and multi-benefits of this game.
International Coaching Camp is a good example of it. Lots of international
tournaments have already done and lots of still coming.
Kho-Kho is in global reach as lots of countries in the world are keenly working
at the grassroots level to compete with Indian Players as in coming days
competition in Kho-Kho will be at peak level as due to global acceptance of
Change is the law of nature and every positive step in raising Kho-Kho is
welcomed and soon Kho-Kho is going to set a benchmark by crossing all games
behind. I am thinking to write this post a few days back but today I completed
this as I am rightly connected with my inner voice. Hope the above words will
be beneficial for Kho-Kho lovers.
