Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will kick-start the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with a blockbuster clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on March 22 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The Shahrukh Khan co-owned side had won the title last year, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.
Unlike the previous year, there have been a lot of new faces at the KKR camp, including the captain and mentor. Shreyas Iyer, who led KKR to IPL 2024 title, shifted base to Punjab Kings, while title-winning mentor Gautam Gambhir, took up the India head coach’s job.
For IPL 2025, KKR got a new mentor in Dwayne Bravo while Ajinkya Rahane replaced Shreyas Iyer as the new captain. The three-time champions also lost destructive opener Phil Salt and pacer Mitchell Starc who went to RCB and Delhi Capitals respectively.
However, KKR will not get the services of pacer Umran Malik, who was ruled out recently due to an injury. Chetan Sakariya has been named as a replacement for Umran Malik.
KKR full squad for IPL 2025
Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali