IPL 2025 gets underway with blockbuster RCB vs KKR in Bengaluru. Here’s what we know

Cricket is back as fans gear up for the business end of IPL 2025, resuming Saturday (May 17) evening. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) hosts Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a repeat of the tournament opener in Bengaluru. After being suspended for a week over escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the BCCI resumed the tournament, with M Chinnaswamy staging the first game of the return leg.

The RCB and KKR will face off with plenty on the line. While the RCB sits at the second spot on the points table with 16 points from 11 contested matches, winning eight and losing three thus far, same as table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT), KKR is languishing at the sixth place, with 11 points from 12 matches. Given their positions on the table, the RCB is well-placed to reach another playoff, this time under a new captain in Rajat Patidar.

On the other hand, KKR must win this game and the next to give themselves any chance of making the last four this year.

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IPL 2025 resumes

After the Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals game was halted midway last Thursday (May 8) in Dharamsala, dark clouds began hovering over this edition’s future, knowing what was happening near the border. Looking at everyone’s safety and the prevailing tensions between the two countries, the BCCI suspended it for a week on May 9 (Friday).

Although India and Pakistan ‘agreed to an understanding’ soon after, the whole episode gripped the foreign contingent with panic, with all leaving for their homes immediately.

After the situation eased out, the Indian Cricket Board released the revised schedule early this week, announcing that IPL 2025 will resume this Saturday and that all teams are requested to assemble their squads by Tuesday (May 13). The IPL 2025 final date also got pushed back to June 3 (Tuesday).

While most teams managed to do it by asking their overseas players to return, plenty decided against returning for several reasons.

A few players across both camps decided against returning, including KKR’s overseas pair of Moeen Ali and Rovman Powell. RCB seamer Josh Hazlewood also remains unavailable for selection because of a shoulder niggle, while his participation for the remainder of the tournament remains unclear due to international commitments.

However, in a massive boost for the hosts, RCB captain Rajat Patidar recovered from the finger injury he sustained earlier and is available for the side’s marquee game against KKR.

RCB - Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal and Suyash Sharma

KKR - Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana