IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony LIVE: Will rain ruin opening ceremony and KKR-RCB match? – Firstpost

IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates: The 18th season of the Indian Premier League gets underway at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders facing three-time runners-up Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The cricketing action, however, will be taking place after a grand opening ceremony which will feature popular singers Shreya Ghoshal and Karan Aujla as well as Bollywood actor Disha Patani. Follow our live blog for the latest updates.
Looks like the opening ceremony and the season-opening match between KKR and RCB might go ahead as planned, looking at the weather in Kolkata at the moment.
Kolkata weather update – Dry af
Easy 2 points today ✅ pic.twitter.com/gqdW6VXitH
Here’s how the Faf du Plessis-led RCB had fared in the IPL last year, en route to their third title:
22 March, Chennai: Lost to CSK by 6 runs
25 March, Bengaluru: Defeated PBKS by 4 wickets
29 March, Bengaluru: Lost to KKR by 7 wickets
2 April, Bengaluru: Lost to LSG by 28 runs
6 April, Jaipur: Lost to RR by 6 wickets
11 April, Mumbai: Lost to MI by 7 wickets
15 April, Bengaluru: Lost to SRH by 25 runs
21 April, Kolkata: Lost to KKR by 1 run
25 April, Hyderabad: Defeated SRH by 35 runs
4 May, Bengaluru: Defeated GT by 4 wickets
9 May, Dharamsala: Defeated PBKS by 60 runs
12 May, Bengaluru: Defeated DC by 47 runs
18 May, Bengaluru: Defeated CSK by 27 runs
22 May, Ahmedabad (Eliminator): Lost to RR by 4 wickets
Here’s how the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders had fared in the IPL last year, en route to their third title:
23 March, Kolkata: Defeated SRH by 4 runs
29 March, Bengaluru: Defeated RCB by 7 wickets
3 April, Visakhapatnam: Defeated DC by 106 runs
8 April, Chennai: Lost to CSK by 7 wickets
14 April, Kolkata: Defeated LSG by 8 wickets
16 April, Kolkata: Lost to RR by 2 wickets
21 April, Kolkata: Defeated RCB by 1 run
26 April, Kolkata: Lost to PBKS by 8 wickets
29 April, Kolkata: Defeated DC by 7 wickets
3 May, Mumbai: Defeated MI by 24 runs
5 May, Lucknow: Defeated LSG by 98 runs
11 May, Kolkata: Defeated MI by 18 runs (DLS Method)
13 May, Ahmedabad: Match vs GT abandoned without toss
19 May, Guwahati: Match vs RR abandoned without toss
21 May, Ahmedabad (Qualifier 1): Defeated SRH by 8 wickets
26 May, Chennai (Final): Defeated SRH by 8 wickets to win IPL 2025!
In case you forgot, it was a lopsided meeting between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru 17 summers ago that kickstarted the revolutionary Indian Premier League.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar recalls former New Zealand captain and current England head coach Brendon McCullum’s explosive 158 at the Chinnaswamy that gave fans a taste of what was in store for them in the years to come:
Sunil Gavaskar recalls the iconic moment when @Bazmccullum cCullum’s explosive innings set the stage for a new era in T20 cricket, also highlighting how the IPL has since raised the standards, with high-scoring games that push the limits..#IPLonJioStar 👉 SEASON OPENER… pic.twitter.com/SJeND6HaUM
Kolkata Knight Riders had pulled off a season double against Royal Challengers Bengaluru last season en route to winning their third title.
KKR had handed RCB a seven-wicket thrashing with more than three overs to spare at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 83 off 59 balls went in vain.
RCB put up a much better fight in their second meeting at the Eden Gardens, nearly chasing down the 223-run target set by Shreyas Iyer’s side only to fall short by one run in the end.
Ahead of Match 1 of the 2025 Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, we take a look at their head-to-head record starting with the first-ever IPL match – at the Chinnaswamy on 18 April, 2008:
Matches Played: 34
KKR Wins: 20
RCB Wins: 14
Tied/No Result: 0
Last 5 Matches:
KKR Wins: 4
RCB Wins: 1
No Result: 0
Ahead of Match 1 of IPL 2025 between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, we take a look at the likely playing XIIs (playing XI+’Impact Player’) for the two teams:
KKR: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock/Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mayank Markande/Anukul Roy
RCB: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt (wk), Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Dar
Here are the squads from which KKR and RCB will pick their playing XIs as well as their ‘Impact Player’:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Manish Pandey, Moeen Ali, Anrich Nortje, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodia
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Swapnil Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Romario Shepherd, Manoj Bhandage, Rasikh Dar Salam, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh
The 18th season of the Indian Premier League, which includes Saturday’s opening ceremony as well as the KKR-RCB match in Kolkata, will be telecast on the Star Sports and Sports 18 channels.
Additionally, viewers can also tune into the live stream of the game on the JioHotstar mobile application and website.
IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony LIVE Updates: The time has finally come for the 18th season of the Indian Premier League to finally get underway, with international cricket set to take a backseat for a couple of months – for Indian cricket fans at the very least. This year’s edition of the T20 extravaganza features defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders facing three-time runners-up Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game on Saturday evening, with both teams set for a fresh start after parting ways with their captains from the previous season.
The KKR-RCB game, however, will be preceded by a star-studded opening ceremony at the same venue which will feature popular singers Shreya Ghoshal and Karan Aujla as well as Bollywood star Disha Patani.
The 18th IPL season will then witness its first double-header the following day with Sunrisers Hyderabad facing Rajasthan Royals in Sunday’s afternoon clash followed by the blockbuster meeting between five-time champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in Chennai.
There is a strong possibility of rain playing spoilsport on Day 1 of the 18th season. According to Accuweather.com, there is a 90 per cent chance of the ‘City of Joy’ experiencing rain on Saturday with an 18 per cent chance of thunderstorm.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has also issued an ‘Orange Alert’ for parts of West Bengal including Kolkata and has also predicted the possibility of lightning and hailstorm.
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