International Kho Kho Federation Notifies Rules for Kho Kho World Cup Matches
Ranvir Singh
New Delhi: The International Kho Kho Federation has notified new rules for the Kho Kho World Cup matches, which will be held from January 13 to 19 in New Delhi. These rules are applicable immediately for both national and international Kho Kho matches.
In a statement, Sudhanshu Mittal, President of the International Kho Kho Federation, mentioned that the duration of each Kho Kho match has been set to 50 minutes, and before the match begins, a toss will give both teams the opportunity to choose between attacking and defending options.
Each team will consist of 15 players, out of which 12 will play on the field while three remaining players will serve as substitutes.
Crossing the central lane, getting up too quickly, retreating, or changing direction will be considered a foul.
For the Kho Kho World Cup, the playing field will have a rectangular size of 26 x 20 meters.
According to the rules, each match will consist of two innings. Each inning will be divided into 7 minutes of attacking and defensive turns. After each inning, there will be a four-minute interval, and there will be a three-minute break between turns.
At the start of each turn, three defenders will enter the field in batches to play defense. Once all three defenders are out, a 30-second break period will occur. The next batch of defenders must enter the field through the entry zone within 30 seconds. If they fail to do so, they will be declared out for late entry.
If any batch of defenders from the defending team remains on the field for three minutes, they will earn an additional point. After that, an additional point will be awarded for every 30 seconds they remain on the field.
To implement “Kho,” the attacker will touch the back of the sitting attacker with their palm/hand and immediately shout “Kho,” which should be audible to the umpire/referee.
The attacking team will earn two points for each successful out. Each team will be allowed two reviews.
At the end of the two innings, the team with the higher score will be declared the winner.