Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will take on perennial underachievers Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game of 2025 Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. While it is hard to judge which is the stronger team of the two even before the tournament begins as far as the first match itself goes it comes down to who has fixed their jigsaw better and formed the team better for the opening game. However, if one were to pick, KKR would have the advantage of an experienced campaigner as captain Ajinkya Rahane, and RCB would be led by first-time captain Rajat Patidar. Here are all the details of KKR vs RCB clash KKR Predicted XI Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy KKR Impact players: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Chetan Sakariya, Mayank Markande, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia Player to watch out for: No prizes for guessing who is the player to watch out for KKR. It is going to be Venkatesh Iyer. The all-rounder did have a decent season last year and played a pivotal part in KKR's campaign turnaround in 2021 in the second hald opening with Shubman Gill. However, with the price tag he has on his shoulders every performance with the bat and ball will be under scrutiny in the upcoming season starting from Saturday. RCB Predicted XI Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (captain), Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Liam Livingston, Tim David, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma. RCB impact players: Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Suyash Sharma, Manoj Bhandage Player to watch out for: It is a big season for Rajat Patidar and there is no question about it. However, Phil Salt who had a blistering campaign for KKR last season has been terribly out of form in the last few months. Faf du Plessis played a pivotal role in giving RCB cracking starts last season which in return helped Virat Kohli to take his time initially and accelerate later on. Salt on paper could replicate the role of Faf however, if he were to not have a good campaign RCB might find themselves in a bit of a pickle with their Powerplay batting. Squads: KKR squad: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Venkatesh Iyer (vice-captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rovman Powell (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Luvnith Sisodia (wk), Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande, Anrich Nortje, Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy. RCB squad: 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. KKR vs RCB head-to-head Matches played: 34, KKR won 20, RCB won 14 KKR vs RCB pitch report Eden Gardens has been assisting the tweakers yet again in the last couple of seasons. However, it is highly unlikely that it will be slow from game one as it is a long IPL season hence the conditions on Saturday will be conducive for batting and with the impact sub-rule one can expect high scores. With Dew also playing a part team winning the toss might likely opt to bowl first. KKR vs RCB weather report A couple of thunderstorms in the morning are expected according to AccuWeather app. However, the rest of the day is expected to remain cloudy and not too warm with temperatures expected to be around 30 degrees centigrade for the day. KKR vs RCB livestreaming The clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be telecasted on Star Sports and JioHotstar.
