In the inaugural match of IPL 2025, Rajat Patidar, the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, won the toss and opted to bowl first against the reigning champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, on Saturday.

This matchup marks the first time since 2008 that KKR is facing RCB in the season opener of the IPL.

Patidar steps in as the new captain for RCB, taking over from Faf du Plessis, while Ajinkya Rahane has taken the helm for KKR, succeeding Shreyas Iyer, who led the team to their third IPL title last season.

Teams:

RCB: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt (wk), Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar, Suyansh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.

KKR: Quinton de Kock (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.