Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Dream11 Tips & Playing 11 for IPL 2025 Match 1

The first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is set to be played between the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 22. KKR will definitely have the home advantage and they would like to carry from where they left in the last season. On the other hand, RCB are one of the few franchises that haven’t won an IPL title and if they want to get their hands on the trophy for the first time, they’ll have to start their tournament with a win.

Team Analysis: KKR and RCB 

KKR have one of the most balanced sides in the IPL 2025. They have retained their core players who helped them to win the title in the 2024 season. Players like Sunil Narine, Andre Russel, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana were retained by the franchise. However, they let go of their IPL-winning skipper Shreyas Iyer who has been replaced by Ajinkya Rahane, who will be seen leading KKR in IPL 2025.

RCB, on the other hand, have tried to revamp their squad by adding some new faces to the team. The side will be led by Rajat Patidar despite Virat Kohli being in the team already. Some of the key additions in the team were Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and others. These players might bring the luck in the team’s favour and help the franchise to become the IPL champion for the first time.

Also Check: KKR vs RCB IPL 2025, Match 1, Weather report for Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Match Details 

Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, IPL 2025, 1st match 

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata  

Date and Time: 22nd March 2024, 7:30 PM 

Live Coverage Details: Star Sports (TV), Jio Hotstar (WEB and OTT) 

Head-to-Head  

Matches: 34 

Wins for KKR: 20 

Wins for RCB: 14 

No result: 0 

Tied Match - 0 

Pitch Report 

The pitch at the Eden Gardens majorly favours the batters. The team that win the toss will prefer to bowl first as there are high chances of precipitation during the match. Even if it doesn't rain, batting second would still be the ideal decision as the dew will play its role while chasing. However, we can expect a high-scoring encounter as both teams have some solid batters.

KKR vs RCB Predicted XI

KKR: Quinton de Kock, Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russel, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje. Impact player: Mayank Markande

RCB: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal. Impact Player: Devdutt Padikkal

Also Check: KKR vs RCB Predictions, Match 1 – Winner, Most Runs, Most Wickets & Player of the Match

P Salt, Q de Kock, V Kohli (VC), R Patidar, V Iyer, S Narine (C), A Russel, L Livingstone, V Chakravarthy, J Hazlewood, B Kumar

Suggested playing No. 2 for IND vs NZ Dream11 Fantasy Cricket

P Salt, Q de Kock, V Kohli, R Patidar, A Rahane, S Narine (C), A Russel, L Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, V Chakravarthy, B Kumar