The first match of this year’s Indian Premier League will be contested between the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and IPL’s perennial underachievers Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on 22nd March 2025.
Indian Premier League 2025 | Match 1: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 19:30 IST, March 22
The Kolkata Knight Riders did well to put together a squad that can challenge for the title again this season despite leaving themselves short on funds following six retentions and spending INR 23.75 crore to bring back Venkatesh Iyer.
KKR have an explosive middle-to-lower order with the likes of Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh all possessing the firepower to take down any bowling attack. The duo of Angkrish Raghuvanshi and new skipper Ajinkya Rahane will thus be crucial in building up the innings through the middle overs.
Moreover, they did exceedingly well to keep hold of most of their bowler department, however, it’s safe to say that both Spencer Johnson and Anrich Nortje are the weakest links in their bowling attack, as both seamers haven’t done enough to light up the IPL yet.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, for a change, have finally addressed the most pressing issue i.e. their bowling department. Contributions from the middle-order has also been a concern over the years, however, the combination of Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David and Krunal Pandya is a solid base which should free up the top order batters to play more freely.
That being said, their spin bowling department is one of the weakest in the league. Pandya isn’t a big turner of the ball while Livingstone will offer a couple of overs at best. They do have both Swapnil Singh and Suyash Sharma. Swapnil did well for them in the past and is the safer choice, however, the leg-spin of Suyash is something that will entice the RCB management to bring him in even if it is as an Impact Sub.
Looking at their head-to-head records, out of 34 matches played between KKR and RCB in the IPL, KKR have won 20 times while RCB have defeated them on 14 occasions. Moreover, KKR have won six of the last eight encounters since 2018, including a 7-wicket victory in their last meeting at Bengaluru (2024).
The surface of the Eden Gardens is mostly flat and provides perfect bounce. This means that the batters will enjoy their time on the pitch in a tournament like the IPL and a big score is expected. However, as the match progresses, the pitch becomes slow which turns out to be beneficial for the spinners.
That being said, rain is expected in the afternoon of March 22 before the match between KKR and RCB. As per the weather forecast, 65% rain is expected in the afternoon. However, the weather is expected to be clear during the match hours with 74% humidity. As a result, expect the winning captain to field first.
Fantasy XI: Quinton de Kock, Phil Salt, Virat Kohli (c), Ventakesh Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine (vc), Andre Russell, Liam Livingstone, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Winners Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders
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