The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season opener between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Eden Gardens on Saturday (March 22) could get washed out as there is an orange alert for some parts of West Bengal. Kolkata's regional Meteorological Centre has predicted 'thunderstorms with lightning'.
The 18th edition of the biggest franchise league is expected get underway with a sensational opening ceremony at the iconic stadium in Kolkata but all could get spoiled as per the weather report. The ground-staff has also not taken anything for granted as they have covered the entire playing area as precaution since Thursday.
Complete Coverage: IPL 2025 | IPL Schedule 2025 | IPL Points Table 2025
IPL 2025: KKR vs RCB weather report
The Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecast reads: "A trough runs from central Odisha to Vidarbha, and there is wind confluence over east and adjoining central India due to the above trough and anticyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal at lower tropospheric levels. Isolated to scattered light or moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds likely over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim on March 20 and 21," it added.
As a result, the Indian Meteorological Department had issued an orange alert till Saturday (March 22).
Kolkata's Regional Meteorological Centre has forecast "thunderstorms with lightning and strong gusty surface winds are very likely to occur in some districts of West Bengal during 20-22 March 2025".
Coming to the opening ceremony, it is the first time since 2015 that Kolkata will host an IPL opening ceremony. As per the rules, the team which wins the IPL title hosts the Grand Opening Ceremony of the tournament next season.
IPL 2025: KKR vs RCB head to head
KKR and RCB have clashed 34 times across 17 IPL seasons, with Kolkata holding a dominant 20-14 head-to-head advantage over Bengaluru.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have played 13 matches at Eden Gardens between 2008 and 2024, winning five and losing eight. Notably, their highest IPL score (221) and lowest (49 all out) both came at this iconic venue—ironically, against Kolkata Knight Riders.
IPL 2025: KKR vs RCB squads
KKR: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Luvnith Sisodia, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh , Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Venkatesh Iyer, Moeen Ali, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson.
RCB: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Swastik Chikara, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Philip Salt, Manoj Bhandage, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh.
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