Several changes were made to the standard rules of kho-kho in UKK in order to make the game more exciting and presentable on television.[3] Sony Pictures Network India signed a 5-year deal to broadcast UKK, and will invest ₹200 crore (US$24 million) into the league over the 5 years.[4]
There are plans to launch a women's version of UKK in a few years' time.[5][6] Future editions of UKK will expand to have eight to ten teams (potentially including a team from Northeast India),[7][8] with venues in multiple cities to be used, and some foreign players to be allowed to participate.[9]
Before the start of the second season, UKK became the first Indian sports league to secure private equity-based funding, receiving it from a UK-based group.[10]
A 30-second break is taken between the dismissal of one batch and the entry of the next batch.[18][a]
If a batch of defenders can avoid being completely dismissed for at least 3 minutes (known as a "Dream Run"), they earn 1 point, and then an extra point for every 30 seconds survived afterwards.[19][20]
One attacking player (known as the wazir) may run in any direction when acting as the active attacker.[11][12][13]
The attacking team can take a powerplay in each of their attacking turns during which they have two wazirs. Each powerplay lasts until all 3 defenders of the current batch are out.[14][15][16]
Each team's turn to score/defend lasts 7 minutes, with the break time between turns also shortened.[11][12][13]
Tiebreaker (named "Minimum Chase"): Each team gets one additional turn to score (with the powerplay being active), and the team that scores its first point the fastest wins.[18]
The game is split into two innings, each of which is split into two turns of seven minutes each. An interval of 3 minutes is taken after the end of the first inning, while a break of 2 minutes is taken after the end of the first and third turns respectively.[18]
^The attacking team can select any of its on-court players to be the active attacker at the start of the new batch. A kho does not need to be given by the attacker after the break.
^Known in Season 1 as the "Young Player of the Tournament"