Kho-Kho

Kho kho is a traditional South Asian sport that dates to ancient India. It is the second-most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connecting two poles which are at either end of the court. During the game, nine players from the chasing team (attacking team) are on the field, with eight of them sitting (crouched) in the central lane, while three runners from the defending team run around the court and try to avoid being touched. Each sitting player on the chasing team faces the opposite half of the field that their adjacent teammates are facing.

Kho-kho is an ancient Indian game, possibly derived from the different strategies and tactics of the war in Kurukshetra as described in the Mahabharata. The chariot fight during the war and the zigzag pathways followed by the retreating soldiers show similarity with kho-kho. On the 13th day of the war, the chief of the Kaurava army, Guru Dronacharya, drew a typical strategic circular formation—the chakravyuh. A deadly almost impenetrable war formation. The warrior Abhimanyu was killed in this Chakravyuh having to fight with 7 warriors alone, but he managed to to inflict heavy casualties over Kaurava. The tactics used by Abhimanyu to fight the defensive circle is similar to the game play of Kho-kho.