KKR Vs RCB IPL 2025 Preview: Cloudy With Some Chance of Cricket As Kolkata Knight Riders Set To Kickstart New Season At Home
With clouds hanging over Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders begin title-defence against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 2025 Indian Premier League.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have to do it all again for something that only Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have managed to do – retain the title. First up will be the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens to kick off the Indian Premier League 2025 season on Saturday.
KKR and RCB share memories that date back to the start of IPL back in 2008 and their storied rivalry over the course of the tournament’s history has produced many a classic. KKR have the edge over RCB in head-to-head meetings, having won 21 of their 35 match-ups.
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All may come to nought with rain predicted in the late evening with thunderstorms on the cards after the toss.
- What: IPL 2025, Match 1 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
- When: March 22, 2025
- Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- Time: 7:30 PM IST
KKR Team News
KKR have a new-look squad but have retained their title-winning core. Newly appointed skipper, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the retained stars like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora. That is 10 of the 12 needed for a match.
The potential new faces in the playing XII have been brought in from the auction to slot in for specific roles. Quinton de Kock or Rahmanullah Gurbaz as the keeper-batter at the top of the order and Anrich Nortje or Spencer Johnson as the overseas pacer.
KKR have set themselves up to replicate the game plan from last season and hope to retain the title.
KKR Probable Playing XI vs RCB:
Quinton de Kock (WK), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje and Varun Chakravarthy (Impact player: Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Vaibhav Arora)
RCB Team News
A hint of ‘Purple and Gold’ hangs over RCB. Last season’s star opener Phil Salt has been roped Akin to open the innings alongside Virat Kohli. The duo of Rasikh Salam Dar and Suyash Sharma have rolled their arm over at Eden in the past too. Dinesh Karthik, RCB’s batting and mentor, is a former KKR captain.
Leading the team will be Rajat Patidar.
Adding to their batting might will be Liam Livingstone, Tim David and Jacob Bethell along with Indian stars Devdutt Padikkal and Jitesh Sharma in the middle to lower order. Krunal Pandya will have to step up with bat and ball to provide balance to the side.
Bhubaneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood will share the new ball duties along with the retained Yash Dayal bowling in the death.
RCB Probable Playing XI vs KKR:
Virat Kohli, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Krunal Pandya, Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal (Impact players: Rasikh Dar, Jitesh Sharma)
KKR vs RCB Pitch Report
If the clouds stay away, it may rain maximums in Kolkata. Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee has promised a belter of a track with 200-run scores a certainty. Despite the new changes in rules, regarding the conditions of the ball and use of saliva, dew is slated to continue dictating decisions for the captain regarding what to do after winning the toss.
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