Shreya Ghoshal lights up IPL 2025 opening ceremony with 'Maa Tujhe Salaam' song at Eden Gardens [Watch]

Renowned singer Shreya Ghoshal lit up the IPL 2025 opening ceremony with a special performance in front of a huge crowd at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Bollywood actress Disha Patani and rapper Karan Aujla also performed at the event.

The 18th edition of IPL has commenced tonight (March 22) with a clash between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). RCB skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and opted to bowl first in the contest.

Before the toss, fans were entertained with the performances of Shreya Ghoshal, Shah Rukh Khan, and others. Shreya sang the popular 'Vande Mataram' song, with her melodious voice giving goosebumps to the audience. The fans in the stands also joined in and sang along with her, making it a special moment.

You can watch Shreya Ghoshal's performance in the below videos:

You can watch Karan Aujla's performance in the below video:

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"Amazing to lead RCB and great opportunity to learn" - RCB captain Rajat Patidar after winning the toss during IPL 2025 opening match vs KKR

Speaking after winning the toss, Rajat Patidar was grateful for getting the opportunity to lead a renowned franchise like RCB and looked forward to the season.

He said (via Cricbuzz):

"We have decided to bowl first, the pitch looks hard. Amazing to lead RCB and great opportunity to learn from the great players in IPL. We have done proper preparations for the last 10-15 days. I am confused with this impact player. We are going with 3 fast bowlers and 2 spinners."

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Here are playing XI's of both teams for tonight's match -

RCB XI: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, and Yash Dayal.

Impact Subs: Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinandan Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Romario Shepherd, and Swapnil Singh.

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KKR XI: Quinton de Kock(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakaravarthy.

Impact Subs: Anrich Nortje, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, and Luvnith Sisodia.