The 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) begins with a high-octane encounter between last season's champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The game will be hosted by the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, March 22. KKR will be seeking to begin their title defense in top form with their new skipper, Ajinkya Rahane, after an overwhelming 2024 campaign. RCB, on the other hand, will be seeking to end their IPL trophy jinx and have a winning return to the season under the captaincy of Rajat Patidar. With power-house batting line-ups and destructive bowling attacks, one can be sure of a crackling encounter. KKR vs RCB Match 1: Match Details Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Match 1, IPL 2025 Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025 Time: 7:30 PM IST Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata Live Streaming: Star Sports Network & JioCinema Also Read | KKR vs RCB IPL 2025 Match 1: Key Stats & Milestones to Watch KKR vs RCB Head-to-Head Stats (H2H) in IPL KKR vs RCB Head-to-Head Stats Total Matches 34 Won by Kolkata Knight Riders 20 Won by Royal Challengers Bengaluru 14 Tied/NR 0 Last 5 Matches Result KKR: 4, RCB: 1 At Eden Gardens KKR: 8, RCB: 4 KKR have been on top of RCB in recent years, winning their last four clashes, including a nail-biting one-run win at Eden Gardens in IPL 2024. KKR vs RCB: Team Preview for Match 1 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) KKR played a exceptionally well 2024 season, finishing as champions after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final. Even though they parted ways with the title winning captain Shreyas Iyer, they have kept their core players intact. Ajinkya Rahane has been given the responsibility of captaincy for 2025 season, and they will be banking on their seasoned stars such as Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakravarthy. Key Players of KKR: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) RCB continue to hunt for their maiden IPL title. They reached the playoffs in the last season but were unable to make it to the final. Rajat Patidar has been appointed as the new captain of the franchise, with Virat Kohli continuing as the pillar of the batting unit. RCB have strengthened their squad with the addition of Phil Salt, Tim David, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and will be keen to kick off the season in style with a thumping victory. Key RCB Players: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Also Read | IPL 2025: Saliva Ban Lifted, Two-Ball Rule Introduced Probable Playing XI for KKR vs RCB Match 1 KKR Expected XI: Quinton de Kock/Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje and Varun Chakravarthy Impact Subs: Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Vaibhav Arora RCB Expected XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal. Impact Subs: Rasikh Dar, Swapnil Singh Pitch & Weather Report for KKR vs RCB Match 1 Pitch Report Eden Gardens has been a high-scoring ground over the past few years. In IPL 2024, Punjab Kings chased a score of 262, while RCB got all out just one run behind 222 against KKR. The average first innings score in T20s at this venue in 2024 was 197.86 and the venue is likely to offer similar kind of assistance to the batters in this match as well. Weather Report There is a 15% possibility of rain, which means the game might be deplayed due to rain, but a complete washout is not possible. The temperature will remain in the mid-20s, which will be good for playing. Conclusion Both RCB and KKR have good teams, and the opening match of IPL 2025 is expected to be an exciting encounter. KKR will try to maintain their dominance over RCB, whereas RCB will try to kickstart their campaign by winning the game. With Eden Gardens' batting-friendly pitch, there will be numerous sixes and huge scores.