India is hosting the inaugural edition of the Kho Kho World Cup. Kho Kho is a tradition Indian game and the name of the game is derived its name from the Sanskrit Latin word “KHO” which means "get up and go”. The “Kho Kho" game started in Vadodara, Maharashtra. An institution was formed for “Kho Kho" in India in the year of 1960. It is named the “Kho Kho" Federation of India. Meanwhile, the first championship was organized by Andhra Pradesh in 1959-60. Now after 65 years of its formation, India will host the Kho Kho World Cup with 20 participants in the men's competition and 19 in the Women's. Fans are excited for the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup and they want to know the rules of the game. Fans eager to know the rules of the Kho Kho game, will get the entire information here. On Which Channel Kho Kho World Cup 2025 Live Telecast in India Will Be Available? How To Watch Men's and Women's Matches of Inaugural Tournament Free Live Streaming Online?

Kho Kho Rules and Regulations

Kho Kho consists of a rectangular field or court divided into two halves vertically. The size of the ground is 27 × 16 Meters for men, women junior boys, and girls. The rectangular field contains a pole at each end of the rectangle. A Kho Kho game is played between two teams. A Kho Kho team consists of 12 players, out of which 3 players are in reserve. 9 players take part at one time with one team being the chasers and one being the defenders. The team who will become the chasers is decided by toss. The chaser team has the whole 9 players out on the field at one time, while the defending team comes at sets of 3.

A senior Kho Kho match has two innings separated by a brief break. Each innings has two turns, lasting nine minutes each, where teams alternate between chasing and defending. The team with the most points at the end of the two innings wins the match. If the teams are tied at the end of the match, an additional innings is played to decide the winner. If there's still no definite winner, both teams take a turn each and the side to win one point in the least amount of time is the winner.

The chasing team has 8 players sitting equidistantly from each other on the centre line of the rectangular box with four facing one direction and the other four facing another direction. The ninth player stands at one pole at one end. He is the active chaser. An active chaser tries to touch the defending team's runner without any foul. The entire action has to be done on one side of the court and the chaser cannot go to the other side without running and going round the opposite side's pole. Otherwise it would be a foul. Runners can move anywhere and they can cross the central lines without restrictions and can go between two players. They are not allowed to go outside the boundary.

If the defending team's runner is one the opposite side of the court, then the active chaser can tap the sitting player facing that side of the court and say 'Kho' and replace him in sitting position. The player who got the tap then can enter the opposite court and chase the defending player.  Once a defender is touched by a chaser, the chasing team wins a point and the tagged defender leaves the field of play. Runners can also be out if they drift out of the playfield. The chasing team's coach can request substitutions at any time. Runners can only be substituted before they enter the field for defense. Kho Kho World Cup 2025 Schedule: Get Fixtures, Time Table With Match Timings in IST and Venue Details of Inaugural Men's and Women's Tournament in India.

Once all three defenders are out, the defending team sends in the next batch of three defenders. Once the nine minutes are up, the chasing team becomes the defending team and the second turn of the innings is played out. The sequence repeats for another innings and the team with the most points wins, according to Kho Kho rules. The captain of the chasing team, however, can end the first innings turn before the regulation time, much like declarations in cricket, as long as they have scored more than nine points. In the second innings, a captain can end the turn at any time.

The Fast Format, Wazir, Dream Runs and All You Need to Know For the Kho Kho World Cup 2025

The Kho Kho World Cup 2025 will be played in the fast format, which has certain different rules compared to the tradition Test format rules. The fast format uses a modified set of rules referred to by the International Kho Kho Federation. The changes in the fast format rules are explained below.

In this edition of the Kho Kho World Cup, a turn in Kho Kho is of seven minutes. An interval of 3 minutes is taken after the end of the first inning, while a break of 2 minutes is taken after the end of the first and third turns respectively.

There are a total of four turns where each team gets to chase twice and defend twice. If the chasing team manages to inflict all-out on all four batches of defenders then they can still continue to attack for the remaining time to add extra points. Also, a team earns two points for tapping a defender. In this way, a team can pick 24 points if they dismiss all four batches of defenders, bonus aside.

If a batch of defenders can avoid being completely dismissed for at least 3 minutes, it is known as a dream run and they get one point for it and then an extra point for every 30 seconds survived afterwards. A 30-second break is taken between the dismissal of one batch and the entry of the next batch.

In the fast format, the playing field is only 22 meters long and 16 meters wide. One attacking player, known as the wazir and wearing a different colour  of jersey can run in any direction when acting as the active attacker.  There is a also a tie-breaker, Each team gets one additional turn to score, and the team that scores its first point the fastest wins

 

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2025 03:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).