IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony, Highlights: SRK hosts grand ceremony as Season 18 kicks off in Kolkata

So the fans are treated to an SRK show as Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 18 kicks off in presence of dignitaries and star names. 

Virat Kohli is felicitated by BCCI President Roger Binny as he enters his 18th season in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

Some scenes at the Eden Gardens as Shahrukh Khan and Virat Kohli dance at one tone to set the stage on fire.

𝙂𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙀𝘽𝙐𝙈𝙋𝙎! 🇮🇳🥹@shreyaghoshal at her very best in the #TATAIPL 2025 mega celebration! ✨

Watch LIVE action: https://t.co/iB1oqMusYv #IPLonJioStar 👉 #KKRvRCB, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network & JioHotstar! pic.twitter.com/dpnpPdlPSr

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 22, 2025

It had to be King Khan who has opened the IPL 2025 and he is joined by Virat Kohli on the stage. What an opening we have for Season 18!

From Shreya to Disha and now we have Karan Aujla who is mesmerising the crowd at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. 

Glorious evening lightshow and now beats of Vande Matram have taken the spotlight. 

Well we have more 100 singers on offer in Shreya's chorus as they have taken Eden Gardens by storm. 

Shreya Ghoshal has kick started the IPL opening ceremony as the B-Town singer does what she does best. Fans are ecstatic and we are off to a great start. 

We are expecting fireworks at Eden Gardens as big names like Shahrukh Khan and Disha Patani are set to peform.

Well, the weather looks clear at the moment as the fans are starting to flood at the gates with Shahrukh Khan in action for the opening ceremony. 

Well, it is not a great sight if you are a Bollywood and cricket fan as rain could play a part during the opening ceremony. Rain gods will need to be kind if we want big names like Disha Patani and Shreyas Ghoshal to perform. 

Last year big names like A.R. Rahman and Akshay Kumar performed at the IPL opening ceremony in Chennai, so we can expect a similar blast this time around. Shahrukh Khan is also expected to lighten the occasion. 

The IPL 2025 opening ceremony will be hosted at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, right before the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru match.

The IPL 2025 opening ceremony will be live-streamed on the JioHotstar app and website in India.

The IPL 2025 opening ceremony will be telecasted on Star Sports and Sports 18 Network in India.

The IPL 2025 opening ceremony is scheduled to start at 6:00 PM IST with host of star names performing. 

KKR and RCB raise the curtains for IPL 2025 as star names will peform during the opening ceremony including Karan Aujla, Shreya Ghoshal and Disha Patani.

Head coach Andy Flower confident, but can RCB’s spinners silence the critics?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) kick off their IPL 2025 campaign on the road, starting in Kolkata before heading to Chennai—two venues known for their spin-friendly conditions. For RCB to have a successful season, their spinners will need to step up. But do they have the firepower to make an impact?

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IPL 2025 | Virat Kohli’s 400th T20: New beginnings, old challenges, and hunt for glory

As Virat Kohli steps onto the field for the Indian PremierLeague (IPL) 2025 opener against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens, he will mark a historic milestone—his 400th T20 match. This feat makes him only the third Indian cricketer to achieve this milestone, after Rohit Sharma (448 matches) and Dinesh Karthik (412 matches).

Since making his T20 debut in 2008, Kohli has made 12,886 runs in 382 innings at an average of 41.43, with nine centuries and 97 fifties. He is not only India’s highest run-scorer in T20s but also the sixth-highest globally.

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A steady drizzle in the evening brought premature end to evening practice sessions of Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on the eve of their IPL 2025 opener at Eden Gardens here on Saturday (March 22).

Practice began as scheduled at 5pm, but rain set in around 6pm, bringing the ground staff into action while the players had to pack up. Fortunately, Eden Gardens is one of the few venues with full ground covers, ensuring the playing surface remained protected.

KKR squad: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Venkatesh Iyer (vice-captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rovman Powell (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Luvnith Sisodia (wk), Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande, Anrich Nortje, Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy.

RCB squad: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.