Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the jersey of Odisha Juggernauts, the state’s franchise in the first edition of the Ultimate Kho Kho League at the Kalinga Stadium, today, in the presence of the entire team, Secretary to CM 5T, VK Pandian, Sports Secretary, Vineel Krishna, and officials of Sports & Youth Services Department.
Naveen interacted with the coach and team players and wished them the very for their League ahead. He said, “I congratulate and welcome each and every member to our Team Odisha Juggernauts. You all are now a part of our family and I wish you the very best for the League ahead. We, your Odia fans and supporters, will cheer for you from Odisha and hope to see you return with the coveted first edition trophy.”
Development and promotion of indigenous sports like Kho Kho has been a focus for Odisha and the State teams have performed commendably well at the National level. This venture will give added impetus to the sport in the state and draw more players especially from the rural belts, he added.
The new jersey will make its in-game debut at the first match of this inaugural season that will be played by Odisha Juggernauts on 15 August in Pune, Maharashtra. The League that will commence from 14 August will continue till September 4.
The Odisha Sports Development and Promotion Company (OSDPC)-owned team Odisha Juggernauts will be the fifth franchise in the league and will be led by Head Coach Ashwani Kumar Sharma.
Odisha Juggernauts comprises 25 players with 6 players from Odisha in the state franchise and 10 in the League. OSDPC is collaborating with leading steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited (AM/NS India) and will be working closely in Ultimate Kho Kho.
The Odisha Juggernauts team comprises of 25 players which include, Dipesh Vijay More, Suresh Kumar, Milind D Chavrekar, Mahesha. P, Suraj S Lande, Subhasis Santra, Gowtham MK, Aditya Kudale, Nilesh A Jadav, Shiv K Sen, Vishal, Arjun Singh, T Binod Kumar, Lipun Mukhi, Manoj N Ghotekar, Dinesh Naik, Mukesh Prajapat, Satish D, Jagannath Murmu, Dilip Khandavi, Avinash S Desai, Swayam S Parija, Gurjinder Singh, Siddheswar Tudu, Sukanth Singh. Lilan Kumar Sahu will accompany the team as team manager.
Head Coach, Ashwani Kumar Sharma said, “I am grateful that the Odisha franchise chose me as the Head Coach for the first-season of the Ultimate Kho-Kho League. We have a very balanced side and our pre-season camp in Bhubaneswar also went really well. Odisha has been doing really well in kho-kho and they have also medals in recent junior nationals and Khelo India Youth Games.”
Captain of the franchise, Dipesh Vijay More said, “The trust that the coaches have bestowed on me by declaring me as the captain of Odisha Juggernauts is a big achievement. This is a new team but already feels deeply connected. My prime goal would be to give our very best and keep the team together and motivated at all times.”
Jagannatha Murmu (Odia player – Grade A), shared, “Previously, we didn’t have much facilities for kho-kho, but in the recent years with the intervention of the government, our game has improved a lot and many players from Odisha have chosen to make a career out of kho-kho.”
