Kolkata Knight Riders set to host Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game of the IPL 2025 at the iconic Eden Gardens. In the first game of the season, RCB won the toss and elected to bowl first. Explaining the reason behind it, Patidar noted that the surface looked hard and the team management decided that the chase would be easier.
“We have decided to bowl first, the pitch looks hard. Amazing to lead RCB and a great opportunity to learn from the great players. 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,” Patidar said during the toss.
Newly-appointed KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane meanwhile revealed that it is an honour for him to lead the team and noted the importance of giving freedom to the players in the shortest format of the game.
“It's an honour to lead this team. Our preparation has been good, the core group has been the same. Looking forward to bat well first and defend later on. It is all about giving the players the freedom and allow them to play as a unit. We are playing 3 fast bowlers and 2 spinners,” Rahane said.
Playing XI of both the teams:
KKR XI - Quinton de Kock (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact Players - Anrich Nortje, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia
RCB XI - Virat Kohli, Philip Salt (wk), Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
Impact Players - Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinandan Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh