"My parents used to shout at me the day I missed practice" - Gujarat Giants' Abhinandan Patil divulges his journey prior to Ultimate Kho Kho 2022

Abhinandan Patil, who is plying his trade for the Gujarat Giants in Ultimate Kho Kho 2022, divulged his journey leading up to the premier Kho Kho competition. Patil revealed how despite coming from a middle-class family, he received immense support from his parents to pursue the sport.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Abhinandan spoke about his origins and how he tasted immediate success after getting into the sport at the tender age of 14.

“I come from a village in Maharashtra called Kolhapur. I started playing Kho Kho when I was 14 years old. After that, I played a host of national and international tournaments including the South Asian Games and a test series against England.”

An integral part of the Indian national Kho Kho team, Abhinandan revealed how his parents used to give him an earful if he missed practice even on a single day.

“I come from a middle class family. My parents used to support me immensely. They used to shout at me the day I missed practice. After that, I received plenty of support from everyone around me. I got selected for the Sports Authority of India (SAI) team and I received plenty of encouragement from them. The club used to sponsor me to visit and play at any tournament. That is one of the biggest reasons I have been able to reach this stage."

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"Ultimate Kho Kho has revolutionized the sport" - Abhinandan speaks about changes made in the game

The Gujarat Giants attacker was pleased with the changes that Ultimate Kho Kho has brought about and elaborated on the changes in the points system.

“Earlier Kho Kho used to be played with nine players, but ever since Ultimate Kho Kho has been introduced, Kho Kho has been revolutionized. Earlier, simple touches and dives used to fetch us one point, but now a simple touch gets us two points and a pole dive/sky dive gets us three. The introduction of Wazir has made Ultimate Kho Kho very interesting.”

Abhinandan, who is the Wazir of his side, expressed his joy at being appointed in that capacity. He revealed how he won the Best Wazir award back when a demo of Ultimate Kho Kho was staged.

“When the first demo of the league was conducted, I received an award for the best Wazir. Ever since then, I have loved playing as the Wazir and I am mighty interested in being the Wazir of the team. I know perfectly well the rules and strategies that a Wazir must be applying to his game.”

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"Wazirs should stand out" - Abhinandan discloses mystery behind his hair colour

Gujarat Giants' Wazir is seen in action donning blue-coloured hair, something that has become a talking point among fans and pundits during the ongoing Ultimate Kho Kho 2022. Abhinandan finally revealed the mystery behind the colored hair.

“Vinay sir is our manager and he told us that the Wazirs of the team should stand out. Hence, we decided to color our hair and use a different colored jersey”

Abhinandan also spoke about his childhood friend, Akshay Desai, who was picked up by the Odisha Juggernauts in Ultimate Kho Kho 2022. He reminisced about the time they used to play together and revealed that he had disclosed his friend's strategies to his side.

“Akshay Desai, who plays for the Odisha Juggernauts, is a really good friend of mine. We grew up playing Kho Kho together. We form a terrific duo and have amazing coordination between us. I know all about his strategies and he knows all about mine. I enjoyed playing against him. Whatever his main ploys are, I conveyed to my side and he did exactly what I had told my side.

Gujarat Giants have won both their games in the tournament so far and along with Telugu Yoddhas, have made quite an impression early on in the competition.