IPL 2025 will start from March 22 and Kolkata is going to host the first match of this season. The first match of the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025 First Match) will be played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore (KKR vs RCB) at Eden Gardens. KKR is the champion of the last season, while Bangalore made it to the playoffs by performing brilliantly in the second half of the last season. Here before the first match of IPL 2025, let us know who has the upper hand between Kolkata and Bangalore according to the statistics.
KKR vs RCB: Head-to-Head Record
The best way to assess the better team between any 2 teams can be the head-to-head record. A total of 34 matches have been played between KKR and RCB in the Indian Premier League so far, out of which Kolkata has won 20 times, while RCB team has been victorious 14 times. Let us remind you that both the teams faced each other twice in IPL 2024, where KKR won both the times.
IPL 2025 KKR has the upper hand?
In the first match of IPL 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders seem to have the upper hand. If we look at the last 7 matches of both the teams, then only once the RCB team has become the winner. Even Kolkata has been defeating Bangalore continuously for the last four matches. Since both the teams will be seen changed in the upcoming season, it is not right to select the better team based only on history.
This time Kolkata will be captained by Ajinkya Rahane, who has a lot of experience of captaincy at the international and domestic level. In front of them will be RCB captained by Rajat Patidar, which has international stars like Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
RCB Team:
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (Captain), Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Tushara
KKR Team:
Rinku Singh, Varun Chakraborty, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Anrich Nortje, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson
Also Read: IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony: Date, Time, Venue, Performers and Where to Watch Live
