IPL 2025: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Match Preview

IPL 2025 is all set to resume with Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday. With uncertainty on foreign players’ availability, RCB announced on their social media channels that the English trio – Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Jacob Bethell – have arrived in Bengaluru.

RCB captain Rajat Patidar also batted in the nets on Thursday, squashing reports on his fitness issues. Furthermore, Josh Hazlewood is all set to rejoin the RCB squad, as per the latest reports.

On the other hand, KKR confirmed that all their players and staff have reached Bengaluru ahead of their re-start fixture against RCB, barring Rovman Powell and Moeen Ali, who have not travelled due to medical reasons.

Meanwhile, RCB is in second place in the standings with eight wins in 11 matches, and a win against KKR will help them seal their playoff berth. 

It would be a must-win game for the reigning champions, KKR, to stay alive in the tournament. KKR’s batting order has been a hit and miss in the ongoing season, and they can’t afford any more slip-ups. 

Head to Head: KKR 20 – 15 RCB.

KKR squad for IPL 2025:

Batters: Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia.

Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

All-rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali.

Fast bowlers: Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya.

Spinners: Mayank Markande, Varun Chakaravarthy.

KKR Probable Playing XI:

Quinton de Kock, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora.

RCB squad for IPL 2025:

Batters: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Mayank Agarwal, Swastik Chhikara.

Wicketkeepers: Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma.

All-rounders: Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell.

Fast bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh.

Spinners: Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee.

RCB predicted playing XI:

Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma.