KKR vs RCB Betting Tips – Back defending champs KKR in IPL 2025 opener

• Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Preview
• Kolkata Knight Riders Form
• Kolkata Knight Riders Team News
• Royal Challengers Bangalore Form
• Royal Challengers Bangalore Team News

KKR and RCB will open a new IPL season on Saturday, March 22, from Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Both teams have brought in fresh faces while also preserving certain key core players from previous seasons.

KKR, for example, have brought back the services of players like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer (bought back in the auction). In the auction, KKR also purchased some more players to add value such as Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane and Quinton de Kock.

RCB, on the other hand, retained only Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal. There were plenty of additions to the RCB team in the auction with players such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya and Phil Salt.

Kolkata Knight Riders Form

KKR are defending champions of the IPL after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final last year. While they have lost their captain in Shreyas Iyer, there is plenty to look forward to for KKR considering their balance and firepower.

KKR will also look at their bowling as one of the strongest in the IPL with Varun Chakravarthy, Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Rusell, Spencer Johnson, Anrich Nortje and Harshit Rana.

Kolkata Knight Riders Team News

KKR will be led this year by Rahane, who has made the move from Chennai Super Kings. Venkatesh Iyer will be his deputy. KKR have most players fit and ready for a long IPL season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Form

RCB will look at a new balance in their team as a strong reason to get out of their trophy drought. They have brought in Phil Salt, Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Devdutt Paddikal and Jacob Bethell along with Tim David to give them some firepower around Kohli.

While there is momentum after a strong finish to last year, RCB will be desperate to start quickly to gain some early fluency and chemistry.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Team News

It will be interesting to see what combination RCB use for the opener but you should see Salt, Livingstone and Romario Shepherd as three overseas players.