Kho Kho World Cup 2025: India is called the country not only of festivals but also of sports. India has given many sports to the world. These include Kho Kho whose World Cup is being played on Indian soil. Kho Kho World Cup has started from 13th January. The existence of this centuries old game is said to be related to the Mahabharata period. Both playing and watching this game is a different experience in itself, but do you know about the rules of playing Kho Kho? If not then take a look at the rules of Kho Kho.

Kho Kho is played in two innings, both teams have 9-9 players.

Kho Kho is not an individual game but a team game. There are two teams in this. Both teams have 12-12 players, although only 9-9 players come out to play. It is noteworthy that even in the cricket team, there are many players in the squad, although only 11 players are in the field to play. There is a similar rule in Kho Kho also. This game is played in two different innings. Both the innings are of nine minutes each and a break of 5 minutes is taken in between them.

kho kho playground

Kho Kho does not require a field for sports like football and cricket. Kho Kho is played on a rectangular field measuring 27mx16m. It has two ends and there is a pillar at each end. The entire game is played around one pillar to another.

rules of kho kho

Players of one team chase players of the other team or try to touch them. First of all, the toss takes place and the team winning the toss decides whether it wants to chase or remain in defence. Suppose after winning the toss, a team wants to chase, then all its players sit facing opposite directions from each other on the court. Only one player remains standing to chase. Whereas three players of the defending team are on the field and they run around the players of the opposing team.

One player of the chasing team tries to touch him. From time to time, these players (chasers) take help from each other and raise them by saying 'Kho'. When the second player gets up, the player who was running earlier sits in his place and now that player chases the players of the opposite team. Any player of the chasing team can catch the players of the defending team but not until his teammate picks him up. Be it a chaser or a player from the defense team, the player who completes the race first is the winner. The result of the match is determined on this basis. However, this process does not happen only once but it continues for nine minutes in both the innings.