By Kaif - Mar 16, 2025 03:54 PM
IPL 2025: The 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is going to start from March 22. The first match of the season will be played between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Some new players have come in the Kolkata Knight Riders team. However, the team does not look weaker than last season. Quinton de Kock has come in the team in place of Phil Salt. Anrich Nortje has replaced Mitchell Starc. Overall, the team looks quite solid.
Talking about the playing eleven of KKR's first match, wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock will open the innings. Captain Ajinkya Rahane can open with de Kock. The team's most expensive player Venkatesh Iyer can play at number three. After this, young Angkrish Raghuvanshi is likely to get a chance at number four.
This season too, the middle order of the team looks quite solid. Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Andre Russell will be present for explosive batting at number five, six and seven. Last season also, all three played in the same order. Talking about bowling, there are two mystery spinners in the form of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakraborty. In this, Narine can also contribute with the bat.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) retained only three players before the IPL 2025 mega auction, including two capped players Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar, while Yash Dayal was also retained in the team. Kohli was retained for Rs 21 crore, Patidar for Rs 11 crore and Yash Dayal for Rs 5 crore. During the auction, RCB has added many big names to its team including fast bowler Josh Hazlewood for Rs 12.5 crore, England wicketkeeper-batsman Phil Salt for Rs 11.5 crore, Indian wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma for Rs 11 crore and experienced fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Rs 10.75 crore.
RCB has tried to balance its squad in this auction, which includes experienced fast bowlers along with aggressive batsmen and some talented young players. Now it remains to be seen how the 2025 season turns out for this team and whether they will be able to win the trophy for the first time.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Impact Player: Manish Pandey and Vaibhav Arora will be two impact players for KKR
If KKR bats first against RCB in the first match of IPL 2025 then Manish Pandey will be in the playing 11, and Vaibhav Arora will be used as KKR impact player. But if KKR is bowling first, then Vaibhav Arora will be part of the playing 11, and Manish Pandey will be used as an impact player.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Impact Player: Devdutt Padikal and Yash Dayal will be two impact players for RCB
If RCB bats first against KKR in the first match of IPL 2025, then Devdutt Padikal will be part of the playing 11, and Yash Dayal will be used as RCB impact player. But if RCB bowls first, then Yash Dayal will be part of the playing 11, and Devdutt Padikal will be used as an impact player.
Also Read: Who won the Orange and Purple Cap in WPL 2025?
Impact Player: Manish Pandey and Vaibhav Arora
Impact Player: Devdutt Padikal and Yash Dayal
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The best way to assess the better team and the possibility of victory between any 2 teams can be the head-to-head record. So far, a total of 34 matches have been played between KKR and RCB in the Indian Premier League, out of which Kolkata has won 20 times, while RCB has been victorious 14 times. Let us remind you that in IPL 2024, both the teams faced each other twice, where KKR won both times. If we look at these records, KKR can win the first match of IPL 2025
Also Read: Why Virat Kohli did not post anything on social media after winning the CT 2025
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