- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 22 Mar 2025 02:16 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
KKR vs RCB IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns with Royal Challengers Bengaluru during the tournament opener on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. IST. The reigning champion would be playing under new skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who was bought for Rs 1.5 crore during the mega auction last year. At the same time, RCB has made Rajat Patidar their new captain for the upcoming season.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led side is on the verge of becoming the third team besides CSK and Mumbai Indians to have won consecutive trophies. Shreyas Iyer, who led the team to their third IPL title last year has now shifted his base to Punjab Kings but the Kolkata-based franchise did retain their core players like Andre Rusell, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh ahead of the mega auction last year.
At the same time, RCB retained players like Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, and Yash Dayal and bought talented players like Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Krunal Pandya to their squad in their mega auction last year.
Eden Garden Stadium, Kolkata: Pitch report for KKR vs RCB IPL 2025 opener
The surface in Kolkata is batters-friendly, especially in the shortest format. It usually turns out to be a flat and bouncy pitch and thus becomes quite favorable for brilliant stroke play. Although, the pitch is batters-friendly but its not as flat as those compared in Bengaluru or Hyderabad.
Eden Garden stadium, Kolkata: IPL T20 stats
A recent match at Eden Gardens
The last IPL match at this venue was held between KKR and MI, where the hosts defeated the Mumbai-based franchise by 18 runs. It was a rain-induced game and both the teams played 16 overs per side. The Shreyas Iyer-led side batted first and scored 157/7, whereas Venkatesh Iyer [42] and Nitish Rana [33] scored gritty knocks. In reply, MI was skittled out for 139 runs. Varun Chakravarthy was the pick among the bowlers as he took two wickets and was adjudged the Player of the Match award.
KKR's record at Eden Gardens
The Kolkata-based franchise has had a brilliant record at Eden Gardens, winning 52 matches out of the 88 that they have played.
Highest team scores at Eden Gardens in IPL
Punjab Kings posted the highest team total at this venue last year as they scored 262/4 against the Shreyas Iyer-led side. PBKS batters Jonny Bairstow and Shashank Singh scored match-winning knocks of 108 and 68 runs. On the back of their brilliant performance, PBKS registered a record run chase in the history of their tournament.