IPL 2025 Fantasy League: Best Fantasy XI for Match 1 - KKR vs RCB | WPL Fantasy Tips

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) face off in the first match of Tata IPL 2025 on Saturday, March 22, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

After an exciting Mega Player Auction last November, we have ahead of us a brand new cycle of the IPL. With most teams sporting a new look, we're set for a thrilling next couple of months filled with competitive cricket action.

Also returning with some changes and a makeover is the official season-long IPL Fantasy game, this time powered by the My11Circle game engine. With 210 transfers to burn across the duration of 74 matches, IPL fans can be engaged throughout the season, with every match and every decision making a difference in their final scores.

So without further ado, let's look at the best IPL Fantasy XI for Match 1 of IPL 2025.

Transfer Deadline: 07:30 pm on Saturday, March 22.

Note: The suggested team may change depending on the toss or other unexpected team news. Any such changes will be updated in the articles for the next matchday.

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Preview of IPL Fantasy 2025

First things first, the most important factor to consider ahead of a season-long Fantasy league is the point-scoring system. Fortunately or unfortunately, My11Circle has adopted Dream11's new and revised scoring system that is skewed much in favor of the batters.

As a result, I'm unlikely to have more than three bowlers on my team (that's the minimum requirement) at any time this season, with batters and wicket-keepers certainly more valuable than they were before, with openers having a particularly higher advantage.

Thankfully, the prices are quite competitive this season, meaning that IPL Fantasy managers have to make some tough decisions and sacrifice some quality players to create their team, making for more diverse and interesting team selections.

There are seven boosters to use across the season, and while the usual ones such as the 2X Booster, Power Overseas, and Indian Player Booster, and the Wildcard (Super Transfer) boosters are quite powerful, the newer ones, barring perhaps the Free Hit, aren't as effective.

Now that we're all caught up with the rules of the game, let's dive right into the team selection ahead of the opening day of IPL 2025.

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IPL Fantasy 2025 - Best Fantasy XI for Match 1 - KKR vs RCB: Thoughts and Captaincy Tips

Best IPL 2025 Fantasy Team for Match 1 - KKR vs RCB

Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson (RR) (10 Credits) and Ishan Kishan (SRH) (9 Credits).

Batters: Travis Head (SRH) (10.5 Credits), Virat Kohli (RCB) (10.5 Credits), Faf du Plessis (DC) (8.5 Credits), and Rahul Tripathi (CSK) (8 Credits).

All-Rounders: Sunil Narine (KKR) (9.5 Credits) and Liam Livingstone (RCB) (9 Credits).

Bowlers: Khaleel Ahmed (CSK) (8 Credits), Harshit Rana (KKR) (9 Credits), and Rasikh Salam (RCB) (7.5 Credits)

Credits Remaining: 0.5.

I've opted to select five players from this opening match between KKR and RCB. However, with the threat of rain looming, I might opt to reduce that to three or lesser at the time of the match, based on how the forecast looks.

Sunil Narine is severely underpriced at 9.5 credits as he offers significant point-scoring potential with the bat and the ball. His boundary-hitting ability in the powerplay should earn him plenty of Fantasy points across the season, and that isn't even what his primary role in the team is. Narine is a dot-ball machine, and is easily one of the biggest contenders to finish this season as the highest point-scorer on IPL Fantasy.

While there are more belligerent batting options in the RCB top order, Kohli's record against KKR and his general track record in the IPL make me want to back him in this match. He's also someone who could be a great captaincy choice.

I've also backed Liam Livingstone to come good for RCB. He's a tremendous ball-striker and should enjoy playing at the Eden Gardens, and his leg-spin will definitely come in handy for an RCB side that is short on spin-bowling resources.

To round out the selection, I've picked two wicket-taking fast bowlers from either team, Harshit Rana and Rasikh Salam. Value players like Rasikh (7.5 Credits) are essential to accommodate some expensive selections elsewhere in the team.

As for the remaining players, I've picked three from Match 2 between SRH and RR, two from Match 3 between CSK and MI, and one from Match 4 between LSG and DC.

It's going to be a run-fest in Hyderabad on Sunday afternoon, and I'm going all-out on the batting options by backing Travis Head, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan. The latter looked in great touch during the intra-squad matches and offers great value at nine credits.

I've gone a bit cheap with my CSK-MI selections, with both Khaleel Ahmed and Rahul Tripathi costing only eight credits apiece. However, both players have what it takes to create high impact on their CSK debut, with Tripathi's spin-hitting skillset and Khaleel's ability to strike upfront fitting in perfectly with the match-up.

DC's newly appointed vice-captain Faf du Plessis closes the team out. At 8.5 credits, he's a steal, now that it's all but confirmed he'll open the batting, and I expect him to go all guns blazing right from the first match.

Captaincy for Match 1: Captaincy for this KKR-RCB clash rests really with only the two all-rounders and Virat Kohli. Livingstone, while possessing the X-Factor, might be a risky captaincy choice, and I might well back Narine and Kohli, the two opening batters, with the captain's armband, in this match.

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IPL Fantasy 2025 - Best Fantasy XI for Match 1 - KKR vs RCB: Final Lineup

Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson (RR) (10 Credits) and Ishan Kishan (SRH) (9 Credits).

Batters: Travis Head (SRH) (10.5 Credits), Virat Kohli (RCB) (10.5 Credits), Faf du Plessis (DC) (8.5 Credits), and Rahul Tripathi (CSK) (8 Credits).

All-Rounders: Sunil Narine (KKR) (9.5 Credits) and Liam Livingstone (RCB) (9 Credits).

Bowlers: Khaleel Ahmed (CSK) (8 Credits), Harshit Rana (KKR) (9 Credits), and Rasikh Salam (RCB) (7.5 Credits).

Note: The players named in bold are expected to play in this game.