Padikkal To Open With Salt, Kohli At 3? RCB's Likely Playing XI For IPL 2025 Opener Against KKR
RCB will face defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the first match of IPL 2025 on Saturday (March 23) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will face defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Saturday (March 22). The IPL 2025 season opener is scheduled to take place at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from 7:30 PM IST onwards. The Bengaluru-based franchise, which is still waiting for its first-ever IPL title, will look to get off to a flying start on Saturday and get the better of three-time IPL champions in the repeat of the first-ever IPL match.
Like every other IPL season, RCB fans and team management will have high hopes from Virat Kohli once again. The 36-year-old right-handed batter top-scored for the franchise in the last edition of the IPL, and in 2025 as well, there will be similar expectations from him. Kohli, who is the all-time leading run scorer in IPL history, has played as an opener in the majority of the seasons, but the presence of Devdutt Padikkal in the squad this year could see him come out to bat at his favourable No. 3 position in the IPL 2025.
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Padikkal, who was brilliant with the bat for RCB as opener in IPL 2020 and 2021, could open the innings with England wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt, who joined the franchise for Rs 11.50 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Padikkal and Salt at the top will give RCB a left-right opening combination as well, and Kohli at No. 3 followed by captain Rajat Patidar at No. 4 will add depth to the batting unit. For No. 5, 6, 7 and 8, RCB will have the option to choose from Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya and Romario Shepherd.
Going by the experience of playing in the IPL, Livingstone will start ahead of his English teammate Bethell against KKR, and the other two batting positions will go to Krunal and Jitesh, who are set to be RCB’s finishers in IPL 2025 along with Australia’s David and West Indies powerhouse Romario.
Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood, after securing a deal worth Rs 12.50 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction, will lead RCB’s pace attack and will have legendary Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for support. RCB fans and team management will have high hopes from Bhuvneshwar, who is one of the most experienced players in IPL history.
RCB also has the likes of Yash Dayal and Rasikh Salam Dar to choose from for the other fast bowler’s role, but the major cause of concern is the team’s inexperience in spin bowling. Suyash Sharma and Swapnil Singh are the two specialist spinners in the team’s squad, and they really need to push above their weight on Saturday.
RCB’s likely playing XI for the IPL 2025 match against KKR: Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt (WK), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
Impact players: Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Rasikh Salam Dar.
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