Cuttack, 3rd January 2023: Gujarat Giants’ ace defender Deepak Madhav has been a mainstay in the sport of Kho Kho for almost a decade. Having been signed on by the Adani Sportsline-owned team for the second season of the Ultimate Kho Kho League, which began on December 24, the 27-year-old defender is ready to take his game a notch up, but the road to stardom has not been easy for the Maharashtrian Kho Kho star.
Just as he was making his career, winning laurels and on the way to fame, his father suffered a serious health illness which forced him to work as a newspaper vendor as well as a milkman. Talking about his initial struggles, and why Kho Kho was the sport for him, Deepak said, “Kho Kho is a sport which does not need more than a shorts and sandal and a ground to play. Most of the other sports needed a lot of efforts which, at that moment, was not possible because my father had a heart surgery then. So, the burden was mostly on my brother so pursing any other sport was not a big possibility.
Despite this, his aim was fixed — playing for the Railways. He worked hard towards that goal, and did not let setbacks stop him from achieving his dreams. “When I started playing Kho Kho, I was always selected for the state but was never able to break into the nationals. Always in the stand-bys. During one such U18s State Championship, I performed very well through the knockouts and won a prize as well. This led to my selections in the nationals. This paved the way to the Maharashtra team and then the Senior Nationals and eventually the Railways side, which was my eventual dream.”
“It took me four attempts to break into the Railways team. In the first three tries the more senior members of the team got through so when I got selected for the Railways team, it was my breakthrough moment in the sport,” an emotional Deepak said.
His hard work has paid dividends. Deepak is now a regular India international, and a gold medal winner at the South Asian Games in 2018, even missing his sister’s wedding for the same. “I have sacrificed attending my sister’s wedding in 2018, and my brother’s wedding in 2019, for Kho Kho. In 2018, I was representing India at the South Asian Games in Nepal. We won the Gold for the country at the South Asian Games and this, I considered as one of my biggest achievements in the sport. The perfect return gift for my sister, and a very proud moment for my family,” recalled the defender.
And having missed out on the title in the season 1 of the Ultimate Kho Kho League, Deepak is ready to go the distance with the Giants, a team that he loves for a variety of reasons.
“I missed out on the trophy last time around by 5 seconds. This time, with the Gujarat Giants, I want to fulfil what I could not and secure the title for my team. We have received great support from the Adani Sportsline team, they’ve made us feel at home, kept us motivated to go for the win at all times,” he noted.
With season 2 of the Ultimate Kho Kho League turning towards the business end, the Gujarat Giants are well on their way to the final four. “I have played in a few teams over my career so far, and not just me, everyone will agree that this is one of the best team managements we could have found. They back us to the hilt and the overall feeling in the camp is also very good, and you can see it when we are playing,” the defender signed off.
