Match Preview The first match of the blockbuster 18th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is set to go under on March 22 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions of IPL, is set to kick off their new season of IPL with a thrilling clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. KKR have done major shakes up this season, they didn't retain their skipper Shreyas Iyer for IPL 2025 and now they have appointed Ajinkya Rahane as their new captain for this season. The squad features a strong batting and bowling lineup. With the likes of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Venkatesh Iyer, and Angrish Raghuvanshi the batting lineup possesses a quality depth. In the bowling department, Spencer Johnson and Anrich Nortje will be seen as the two-pace duo in most of the matches. They have Mayank Markande and Varun Chakravarthy to handle the pin department. Royal Challengers Bengaluru On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru are no different. They didn't retain their former skipper Faf du Plessis for this season and they appointed Rajat Patidar as the new captain. With the new season on the line, Rajat Patidar will look to build a quality side and will be eyeing for that prestigious. With a stellar domestic record and performance, Patidar will look to utilize his experience in this tournament. Royal Challengers Bengaluru has a quality side on paper. With the likes of Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd the batting looks much more stable currently. The team also features two Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma, and Swapnil Singh as the spin trio and Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal in the fast bowling department. Match Details KKR vs RCB Match Details Venue Eden Gardens, Kolkata Date and Time 22 March, 7:30 PM IST Live Broadcast Details Star Sports Live Streaming Details JioHotstar (app and website) Pitch Report The surface at Eden Gardens has always favoured the bowlers with pace and bounce. The average first innings score at this surface is 199 (till last year), this shows it will be a batting-friendly track where teams batting first will have an advantage over teams fielding first. It is worth mentioning that dew also plays a crucial role as a deciding factor at this venue. With the dew in the second innings, it becomes hard for the bowlers to grip the ball and bowl at an ideal length. Head-to-Head Record H2H Records - KKR vs RCB in IPL Total Matches 35 Won by Kolkata Knight Riders 21 Won by Royal Challengers Bengaluru 14 Tied 0 No Result 0 Probable Playing XI Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakravarthy. (Impact Subs - Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy) Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma. (Impact Subs - Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Salam, Swapnil Singh, Swastik Chhikara) Toss Prediction Historical Toss-Winning Stats at the Venue In the last three matches at this venue, the toss-winning teams had decided to bowl on all three occasions. Advantages of Bowling First on This Pitch Out of 158 T20 matches played at this venue, the batting first teams have registered 72 wins to their name while the fielding first sides have registered 85 victories. By looking at the recent toss history and stats at this venue, it will be fair to say that fielding first teams have more advantage as compared to batting first. Match Scenario Scenario 1 Toss Winner: Kolkata Knight Riders (opts to bowl first) Power-Play Score: 45-50 RCB Total: 160-180 Match Winner: Kolkata Knight Riders Scenario 2 Toss Winner: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (opts to bowl first) Power-Play Score: 55-60 KKR Total: 160-180 Match Winner: Royal Challengers Bengaluru Who will win the match between KKR vs RCB? With a fresh squad and players, it will be tough to determine the winner of this match but after looking at the head-to-head stats, KKR is way ahead of RCB in their one-on-one encounters. Both teams met two times last time and KKR won both matches comfortably. In the last five encounters, RCB has managed to win just one match against KKR. We believe that Kolkata will win this match and start their campaign on a winning note.