KKR’s predicted XI vs RCB, IPL 2025: Ajinkya Rahane’s presence in the middle order may bring more bad news for Rinku Singh.
The IPL is set to begin, albeit under the threat of heavy rain in Kolkata as West Bengal and surrounding areas have received an orange alert from the meteorological department. Nevertheless, the season opener between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru signals the start of the IPL’s 18th season. With a fresh slate, it is all to play for for these teams — but getting their combinations right is the key.
Ajinkya Rahane’s presence may bring more bad news for Rinku Singh(PTI)
For the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, it is a simpler story than for RCB. With six retentions in place from their trophy-winning campaign in 2024, most of the pieces are already in place, as far as this team is concerned. Add to this their pursuit of some other key players from last season, and only three or four changes will be made to this unit. It is just about figuring out the balance and settling on the right team to go ahead on their title defence.
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The backbone is there, with 2024 IPL MVP Sunil Narine, star all-rounder Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy being kept over from last year. Add to this the returns of Vaibhav Arora and Venkatesh Iyer, and KKR don’t have to fiddle too much with the combination they will go with. In a tournament full of new-look teams, it’s a process of continuity at the Eden Gardens.
Sunil Narine is expected to open the batting once again, a move that can promise a powerful start to the batting, and extends the lineup as well. Although they couldn’t bring Phil Salt back, they have another overseas wicket-keeper bat to open, fairly like for like with Quinton de Kock returning, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz there as backup.
Venkatesh Iyer finished last season strongly, and his bowling ability means he might be dead-set at number three, especially with the hefty price they paid for him at the auction. Following him, new captain Ajinkya Rahane seems the likely option to step in at number four, right into the shoes of the role vacated by the outgoing Shreyas Iyer. It’s a role Rahane is more familiar with, having played it well for CSK, and really knits that lineup together.
KKR then have some phenomenal depth to follow this up: they can have someone like Angkrish Raghuvanshi step in as the batting impact player to bridge the middle order, before it is a combination of Rinku Singh and Andre Russell to finish off the innings. It’s the kind of death overs hitting no other team has access to, and they also have the insurance of Ramandeep Singh to follow.
In the bowling department, it is the spin of Varun Chakravarthy that will join likely domestic pacers Arora and Rana, and finally, the overseas slot is likely to be taken up by Anrich Nortje. In the impact. It remains a scarily balanced KKR team, with frontline batting until 8, and potentially 26 overs’ worth of bowling thanks to the all-rounders littered throughout their batting order.
