Like an M.S. Dhoni run-chase, Ultimate Kho Kho side Chennai Quick Guns has been winning matches in an emphatic fashion, soaking in the pressure and delivering at the death.
The Quick Guns have yet to lose a game this season. Out of the six games they’ve played, five of them have seen them flourish late to secure unlikely wins and nail-biting draws.
“Late comebacks aren’t a coincidence. It’s mostly strategic. There’s only so much you can plan, and the rest is based on how the game pans out. But at the end of the day, for us, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s how best we can utilise the time we have,” says Manohara, head coach of the Quick Guns.
“Co-ordination within the playing 11 is key. If you see our players, they rarely have slip-ups and make room for error, and that is one of the key reasons for our consistency,” he adds.
The Ramji factor
At the heart of the Quick Guns is the omnipresent Ramji Kashyap, an all-rounder hailing from Maharashtra.
Ramji’s impact on the Quick Guns can be traced through his numbers. The 19-year-old is among the names in the charts for top defender and attacker.
With 54 points on attack and a whopping 18:49 minutes clocked on defence, Ramji has been a key figure in the Quick Guns’ rise to the top.
Ramji’s moment of brilliance came during the match against the Gujarat Giants. Trailing 10-27 at one point, Chennai’s chances of restoring parity, let alone winning the game, looked far from reality. With his batchmate Madan down, Ramji had the responsibility of rescuing his side from despair.
With his agility and constant change of direction, Ramji pulled off a defence for the ages. The all-rounder bagged five points, making his batch survive for a whopping 5:24 minutes.
What followed in the fourth and final turn was nothing short of a heist. Ramji and defender Laxman Gawas took turns to slowly but surely take the game away from the opposition. Chennai registered a dramatic 35-29 win and dethroned Gujarat from the top of the leaderboard.
Prizes galore
Three awards, including cash incentives, are given to the best-performing players after each match: best attacker, best defender, and Ultimate Kho, the last being equivalent to the man of the match award in cricket. Ramji has won the Ultimate Kho Award and the Best Defender Award once, totalling five awards in six games.
Manohara is all praise for the all-rounder, “Ramji is a special character. He’s a one in a lakh kind of player, and he’s born to play kho kho. He has all the ingredients that a player could possess, be it agility or footwork, and that is the reason he’s been able to deliver both on attacks and defenses,” he says.
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“Looking at how quickly he can adapt to situations, he can also play as a wazir in our upcoming matches. He works hard during training as well. In fact, he gets so invested that I get tired after instructing the drills for him,” the coach added.
Ramji’s hometown, Velapur in the Solapur district, had a deep-rooted kho kho culture, and that instigated him to join his school team while studying fifth grade.
“I got into the sport very early, and the reason for that was two of my childhood coaches: Narayan Javender sir and Somanath Bandsude sir. They were impressed with my running speed and selected me for the school team,” says Ramji.
Ramji believes he is what he is today because of his parents. He hails from a financially struggling family and says the tournament has helped a lot in bringing stability to his home. Last year, apart from gifting a saree to his mother, all of his earnings went into his parents’ savings. And this time, the monetary benefits are helping him bear the expenses for his sister’s marriage.
Title contenders
However, the Quick Guns aren’t just dependent on Ramji. They are one of the most well-rounded sides in the tournament this season. They have Durvesh Salunke and Sachin Bhargo for the wazir role while also initiating attacks, and Gawas, who works in tandem with Ramji in defense. With just four matches remaining in the league, the Quick Guns can set their sights on the title going forward.
But their immediate focus will be against second-placed Telugu Yoddhas, which comes into the clash on a three-match winning streak. But Manohara’s men will have an idea of what to expect since they’ve already tasted victory against the Yoddhas in their campaign opener.
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