IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders to Face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Opening Match

The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin today, March 22, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The opening match will feature the home team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). This season, 10 teams will compete, with the grand finale scheduled for May 25.

After just a few hours, the 18th season of IPL will kick off with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders taking on RCB in Eden Gardens. RCB, despite their stellar performances over the years, have never won the IPL title. Will this be the year they finally break their title drought?

KKR and RCB have faced each other in 34 IPL matches, with Kolkata winning 20 and Bangalore securing 14 victories. Historically, KKR holds a clear advantage over RCB in their head-to-head battles.

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their new campaign under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane. To strengthen their squad, KKR has brought in wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, all-rounder Moeen Ali, and fast bowlers Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson.

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad
Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Rinku Singh, Ankush Raghubanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Lubnith Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer (Vice-Captain), Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (Captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Jacob Bethel, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Manoj Bandage, Mohit Rathi, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Tushara, Rasikh Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Swapnil Singh, and Abhinandan Singh.

With both teams bringing strong line-ups and a fierce competitive spirit, the opening match promises to be a thrilling start to the season.