What will be the playing 11 of RCB-KKR in the opening match of IPL 2025? Impact subs will also make a splash

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore will clash in the opening match of the Indian Premier League 2025 today (March 22). This match between the two teams will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from 7.30 pm. In this match, KKR will be captained by Ajinkya Rahane, while RCB will be led by Rajat Patidar.

Impact subs will play an important role!
In this match, eyes will also be on the playing-11 of both the teams. It remains to be seen with which combination both the teams come. Since this is the first match of this season, it is difficult to accurately predict the playing-11. However, both the teams will finalize their best combination after examining the pitch. Overall, both the teams would like to give a chance to those players who will be more suitable for the conditions.

Impact players can also play an important role in this opening match. If Kolkata Knight Riders use impact sub, then the team has options like batsman Angkrish Raghuvanshi, all-rounder Anukul Roy and spinner Mayank Markande. On the other hand, spinner Suyash Sharma or fast bowler Rasik Salam Dar can be used as impact sub from RCB.

According to the ‘Impact Player Rule’, both the teams have to give the names of some substitute players apart from the playing eleven. Any one of these can be brought in as an impact sub. The impact sub can bat and bowl like any other cricketer. After the impact sub comes into play, the player who is out cannot be used in the entire match.

The impact player can be brought on the field only during incidents like the end of the over, wicket falling or any player getting injured. If the match is reduced to 10 overs or less due to rain or other reasons, the impact player will not be fielded. That is, the impact player will come into play only if the match is at least 11 overs long. The impact player can only be an Indian player, as long as there are no less than four foreign players in the playing XI.

Probable playing-11 of Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora.

Impact Sub: Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Anukul Roy/Mayank Markande

Probable Playing-11 of Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (Captain), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (Wicketkeeper), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.
Impact Sub: Rasik Salam Dar/Suyash Sharma.

These will be the best in Fantasy XI: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine (Captain), Krunal Pandya (Vice-Captain), Andre Russell, Varun Chakraborty, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshit Rana.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Swapnil Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Romario Shepherd, Manoj Bhandaage, Rasik Salam Dar, Nuwan Tushara, Jacob Bethell, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathi, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh.

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Manish Pandey, Moeen Ali, Enrique Norkia, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakaria, Lavnith Sisodia.