Ultimate Kho Kho: Know all about the Rules and Points System, Key Terms

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The Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 starts from Sunday (December 24) as the high-flying, dynamic action is set to enthrall the world again.

Kho Kho's franchise tournament received a lot of popularity in the first season and as we embark towards the second chapter of it, let us have a recap of the rules and the format of the sport.

Ultimate Kho Kho: Rules and Format at a Glance

Each match will be played with two innings.

Batch: A group of three defenders who enter the field is called a batch. There will be four batches comprising 12 players in a defending team.

Innings: Each match will consist of two innings where both the teams will attack and defend twice with three-minute break between two innings.

Turn: Each innings will consist of two turns where a team will attack and defend once with two minutes of break between each turn

Starting line-up: There will be 12 players, including Wazir, in the starting line-up with three additional players as part of the injury substitute.

Rest time: There will be a 30-second break after each batch is out i.e. all three defenders. This break will allow teams to make strategies and a new batch will enter. In a situation when all three defenders of a new batch fail to enter the play field before the 30-second break is over, the referee has the discretion to declare them out.

Batch playing format: If the attacking team fails to touch out all 12 defenders of 4 batches in the first innings then the batch/batches whose all 3 defenders remain not out will continue in the second innings during their defense in the same order. The sequence of rest of the batches may change. However, if an attacking team successfully touch out all 12 defenders of 4 batches in the first Innings then the defending team may change the sequence of order of batches in the second innings.

Ultimate Kho Kho Points System

1. 2 points: The attacking team will earn 2 points for every successful out. This is a change compared to last year in the point system.

2. Dream Run bonus point: If one batch defends for more than 3 minutes, they will be given 1 additional point and then for each 30-second time period, they will keep getting 1 point until the entire batch gets out or the turn gets over. However, the additional 1 bonus point in attack has been removed in Season 2.

3. Match point: The winning team will get 3 points while both the teams will earn two points each in case of a tie. If the winning margin is 3 points or less, then the losing team will also get 1 point.

For the knock out matches, if the points are equal, one more innings (one turn for each side as attack and defense) will be played. If again the points are equal, an additional Inning will be played on a minimum chase basis.

4. Points Table: The criteria for deciding league standings with multiple teams on the same points will be as per the following options:

i) More number of wins

ii) The difference of total points gain and loss

iii) Head-to-head record of the respective teams

iv) Minimum chase

Key Terms of Kho Kho

Wazir: A player taking part in the match as Wazir can move in any direction freely, unlike any other attackers, but only in his attacking half. Points will be awarded the same as a normal player if he captures any player. During the defense turn, only 2 Wazirs can play the game but during their attack, only one Wazir can play the game except in Powerplay.

Powerplay: The powerplay will allow teams in the attack to play with two Wazir on the field at the same time. However, two wazirs can be activated for one batch only. Once all three players of that batch are out, powerplay will be over. Each team will have only one powerplay in one inning.

Review: Teams will have one review per innings i.e. two reviews for the entire match.