Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled Monday the jersey of ‘Odisha Juggernauts’, the state’s franchise in the first edition of the ‘Ultimate Kho Kho League’ at the Kalinga Stadium here. Among others who were present was the entire squad of ‘Odisha Juggernauts’, 5T Secretary, VK Pandian, Sports Secretary, R Vineel Krishna and officials of Sports & Youth Services department.
The chief minister interacted with the coach and players of Odisha Juggernauts and wished them the very best for their matches. “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,” Patnaik said.
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, Patnaik pointed out.
The new jersey will make its in-game debut at the first match of this inaugural season that will be played August 15 by Odisha Juggernauts in Pune.
The Kho Kho league will start from August 14 and 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 have 25 players with 6 from Odisha.
“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 here also went really well. Odisha has been doing really well in kho kho and they have also won medals in the recent junior nationals and Khelo India Youth Games,” head coach Sharma said.
Captain of the franchise and amongst the senior most players, 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.”
