KKR Predicted Playing 11 vs RCB for Match 1 of IPL 2025 ft. Ajinkya Rahane & Sunil Narine

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will commence their title defence with a high-octane clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Match 1 of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) will hit screens from the Eden Gardens on Saturday, March 22.

The defending champions have gone through a few changes, having lost Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc apart from their captain Shreyas Iyer. Ajinkya Rahane has taken over the reins, and Kolkata will be confident of the same core carrying them through to the playoffs of the competition.

Against RCB, while picking their playing XI is a fairly straightforward task, KKR might consider a couple of impact player options depending upon the conditions and the match situation.

KKR's squad for IPL 2025: Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mayank Markande, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya.

On that note, here is KKR's predicted playing XI, along with a couple of impact player options, for Match 1 of IPL 2025.

---

Openers: Quinton de Kock (wk) and Sunil Narine

Trinbago Knight Riders v Barbados Royals - Men's 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League - Source: Getty

Sunil Narine had a sensational season as an opener in IPL 2024 and is all set to reprise his role at the top of the order. While Rahmanullah Gurbaz was part of the franchise last year and clearly has immense ability, his recent form has been anything but promising.

New signing Quinton de Kock could thus be Narine's opening partner against RCB. De Kock, who loves pace on the ball, should enjoy batting at the Eden Gardens despite his indifferent record there.

---

Middle Order: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh

Trinbago Knight Riders v Barbados Royals - Men's 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League - Source: Getty

Captain Rahane should bat at No. 3, with last year's quartet of Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh following him in the lineup. The KKR middle order will want to make the most of the fact that RCB are likely to go in without a specialist wrist-spinner to take control of the middle overs.

Luvnith Sisodia has reportedly been in excellent form, but the youngster could have to wait to make his IPL debut. Meanwhile, Rahane's appointment as captain has greatly decreased the chances of Manish Pandey's presence in the side.

---

Lower Order: Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora

India v Bangladesh - 2nd T20 - Source: Getty

Starc has been replaced by the duo of Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson. The former, who is returning from a long-term injury, should be ahead in the pecking order for now.

The rest of the KKR bowling attack should wear a straightforward look. Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana are likely to be the pace options, while Varun Chakaravarthy will look to lead the spin attack once again.

---

Impact Player Options - Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup - India v Papua New Guinea - Source: Getty

Given that the current KKR XI has Rinku at 5 and Russell at 6, Angkrish Raghuvanshi is the likely option for their impact player. However, the opposition having a ton of right-handers means that left-arm spinner Anukul Roy might also be in contention. The Knight Riders could take a call on this while assessing the surface, although the threat of rain could limit their faith in Anukul, who has never been a regular member of the starting XI.