Prepare for excitement as the highly anticipated Indian Premier League begins! The Kolkata Knight Riders will face the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the inaugural match, which will take place at Kolkata’s historic Eden Gardens. Over the next few months, cricket fans all over the world will be treated to 74 matches spread over 13 locales, sparking IPL fever like never before. The competition will conclude in Hyderabad, where Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator are scheduled for May 20 and 21. The action then returns to Kolkata for Qualifier 2 and the grand final, which are scheduled for May 23 and 25, respectively, ensuring an exciting season finale.
The Kolkata Knight Riders are making deliberate changes to their team, releasing certain players and bringing in new talent under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy. They want to perform well this season and compete for the Orange Cap. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on the other side, is beginning from scratch with a mostly new roster, led by Rajat Patidar. To compete for their maiden IPL crown, they have brought in English talent as well as interesting domestic picks. Both teams are preparing for a challenging season.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, First Match
Date and Time: March 22, 07:30 PM LOCAL.
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
KKR vs RCB: Injury and Unavailability
There are no injury updates as of yet.
KKR vs. RCB Dream11 Prediction
Wicketkeeper: Phil Salt.
Batters: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, and Tim David. All-rounders: Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Sunil Narine (VC), and Andre Russell. Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, and Varun Chakravarthy
Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, and Varun Chakravarthy
KKR vs. RCB: My Dream11 Team
Phil Salt (vice captain), Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Tim David, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Varun Chakravarthy.
Predicted playing XIs.
KKR: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora
RCB: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, and Yash Dayal
Squads
Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Sudhakar Roy, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ramandeep Singh, Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock (WK), Luvnith Sisodia (WK), Rovman Powell, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande, Umran Ma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB): Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikal, Rajat Patidar (C), Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Mohit Rathee, Philip Salt (WK), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jacob Bethell, Swastik Chikara, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh