He is used to being a typo. In his official documents, SSC hall ticket and even on the certificates of state and national-level kho kho championships, for which the 45-year-old and his teammates had to travel without a reservation.
Shaik, a former kho kho player and coach, has slept on impoverished durries in school halls and shared loos with teammates on tours, experiences that led him to conceptualize last year's kho kho Premier League (KKPL) — a modest effort to commercialise the homespun tag sport. Today, though, as this banker and his middle-class game fraternity watch kho kho's slightly richer cousin, kabaddi, get even richer with auctions, air travel and Abhishek Bachchan, they wonder why their own sweat shouldn't become as lucrative.
After all, "kho kho is more fast paced than kabaddi and interesting to watch," says Shaikh, showing off the massive photo album of his IPL inspired KKPL, which was organized by the eight-member Gunta Group that consists of former kho kho players and coaches. At around Rs 20 lakh, this entire four-day tournament cost as much as IPL player's annual laundry bills but entailed several treks to enlist sponsors, chiefly corporators.
The venue was Dadar's Shivaji Park, a silent zone for which legal permissions was sought. The event had six carefully vetted teams from Maharashtra, with alliterations for names — Thane Thunders and Sangli Smashers. Players slept in a marriage hall in Dadar, where luxuries included mattresses and bed covers. Apart from a few inquisitive foreigners from the nearby gym, the 1000-member strong daily audience boasted local politicians and actors such as Makarand Deshpande, who used to play the game himself. While the winning team, Thane Thunders, got a sum of Rs 75,000, the best players got an LCD television set each.
Organisers admit it was anemic compared to the fancy five-star accommodation, slow-motion TV campaigns and air travel upgrades of the Pro-kabaddi League players. But the event was still a step forward for rustic players who were not used to elaborate medical arrangements, electronic scoreboards and top-notch gameplay. Besides, "juniors from the interiors of the state, who wouldn't otherwise get to showcase their skill in state-level or national tournaments, got the chance to learn from seniors," says Chandresh Jadhav, general secretary of Maharashtra kho kho Association.
However, what the Pro-kabaddi League is now unwittingly doing is acquainting them with their rookie mistakes. "We had kept two matches in one day which used to tire the players out," says Shaikh, who is planning to spread out the second KKPL tournament, tentatively set in November. Besides, organizers were hesitant to quote a big sum to sponsors, who were mostly corporators. "The budget should have been higher," says 25-year-old Yuvraj Jadhav, a star player from Sangli's Kavathe Piran village, who won a Nano in a state-level tournament in Aurangabad last year.
Moreover, Jadhav who has had to introduce the game to many players in cities such as Haryana and Punjab, says they could have done with better marketing. "Our own local leader said he would've extended support had he known about the league," says Jadhav, who feels an all-India tournament backed by Bollywood actors is the key to spreading the word, even domestically.
However, even if stars oblige, logistics might pose an issue. Unlike kabaddi, kho kho needs a massive ground and two poles, the perfect recipe for bad TV. "Perhaps, if, like the T20, we introduce changes in format such as reducing the number of players or playing in a smaller area, it will probably attract generous sponsors," says kho kho coach Bipin Patil. "We may not get Salman, but we have got the confidence to approach at least Marathi actors and cricketers," says Patil, who feels the game's "acche din" have arrived.
Given the overall progress of kho kho, its renaissance isn't far away. Those days when loo breaks meant a trek to the nearby river and prizes included toothpaste and washing powder, are in the past for players now travel in AC compartments and fetch Rs 5 lakh at national club-level tournaments. Recently, in fact, the Maharashtra kho kho Association has even received invitations from Mauritius and Ghana to hold exhibition matches.
Already, preliminary research on an indoor surface for kho kho made of artificial grass and powered with sensor technology is on. "For kho kho players, who have to dive and run, the risk of injury on a rubber kabaddi mat is high," says Dr Pradeep Deshmukh, research guide at a Nanded college. "Dislocation of ankles is a common threat," he adds. Besides, sensor-powered technology would help with impartial refereeing, says Deshmukh, who is planning to submit his proposal to the Department of Science and Technology.
Soon, perhaps as early as the second KKPL in November, kabaddi's lower-middle class cousin would catch up with its affluent sibling, believes Shaikh. On that day, he won't be a typo.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/followceleb.cms?alias=kho kho Premier League (KKPL),kabaddi
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