The reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders will be locking horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR will be led by Ajinkya Rahane while RCB has named Rajat Patidar as their new captain for the IPL 2025. Kolkata has a record of winning six out of seven matches in IPL openers. On the other hand, the Bangalore-based franchise has struggled in the first game of the season, managing just one victory in five attempts.
The Kolkata Knight Riders will enter the tournament as the defending champions as they outplayed Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2024 final, securing their third title. On the back of this win, they became the third most successful team after CSK and MI who have won five IPL titles.
A total of 74 matches will be played across 13 venues in the IPL 2025. The final and Qualifier 2 will be played in Kolkata, while Hyderabad will host Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Predicted XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Rasikh Dar/Manoj Bhandage, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
Impact Sub – Swapnil Singh/Suyash Sharma
Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Spencer Johnson, Varun ChakaravarthyImpact Sub – Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Luvnith Sisodia
KKR vs RCB, IPL 2025: Full Squad
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB): Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
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