KKR vs RCB Playing 11, IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Team News, Injury Updates, Predicted Lineups

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Reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders will kick off their title defense against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens on Saturday (March 22).

While KKR aims for a dominant start to build momentum, RCB will look to rewrite history and claim an early win in the campaign.

KKR vs RCB Head-to-Head Record

The two teams have faced off 34 times in IPL history, with KKR holding the upper hand with 20 victories, while RCB has won 14. In the previous season, KKR triumphed in both encounters, including a narrow one-run victory at Eden Gardens.

KKR vs RCB IPL 2025 Match 1 Details

Date: Saturday, March 22
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Chetan Sakariya

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh, Mohit Rathee, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Yash Dayal, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma

KKR vs RCB IPL 2025 Match 1: Team News, Injury Update

Kolkata Knight Riders have a fit squad available for the first match of the season. Captain Ajinkya Rahane will be leading along with old horses such as Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Varun Chakravarthy as key piece of jigsaw. In terms of overseas selection, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are set to start, while Quinton de Kock is also certain to open the innings. Anrich Nortje is likely to be the 4th foreign player for the Knight Riders.

For RCB, Virat Kohli holds a key post despite not being captain. They have Josh Hazlewood available for selection but the Australia pacer is likely to be rested for the match. Phil Salt is up for selection against his old team, while Tim David, Liam Livingstone and Lungi Ngidi may be their other overseas players. Rajat Patidar makes his captaincy debut in IPL and will be aiming to knock over the KKR side in their own backyard.

KKR vs RCB Predicted Playing 11 and Impact Player

KKR: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anrich Nortje

KKR Impact: Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey

RCB: Phil Salt (wk), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi

RCB Impact: Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh