As we have entered 2025, cricket fans are now waiting for the new IPL season, which is just a couple of months away. In November last year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the tentative window for the IPL 2025 season.
As per the announcement, the IPL 2025 will kick off on March 14, almost a week earlier than the previous edition. And after more than two months of action, the T20 league will wrap up on May 25 with the final match.
The BCCI hasn’t released the schedule for the 74-match event, but here’s our prediction on which teams will play the first match in IPL 2025.
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When will IPL 2025 start?
As mentioned earlier, the 18th edition of the IPL will commence on March 14, 2025. As usual, 10 teams will be in the fray, virtually split into two groups.
They will face five teams twice, while the other four teams once in the league stage, totalling to 14 games per team.
Which teams will play the first match in IPL 2025?
As has been the case in a few past seasons, the finalists of the previous editions have featured in the opening matches. So going by that, it’s most likely that last year’s finalists, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), will square off in the IPL 2025 first match.
The Knight Riders are the defending champions, as they defeated Hyderabad in the IPL 2024 final. KKR bowled out SRH for 113 runs before chasing down the target in 10.3 overs to lift their third IPL title.
In their overall IPL head-to-head record, KKR have an upper hand over SRH. They have won 19 matches, including a Super Over win, while SRH have managed to beat KKR in nine games.
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Which stadium will host the first match in IPL 2025?
Since the Knight Riders are the defending champions, they will host SRH in their home city, Kolkata. The first match of the IPL 2025 season will take place at Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens.
Thus far, Eden Gardens has hosted 93 matches in the IPL, with KKR featuring in 88 of them. The hosts have won in 52 games played at this venue, which is the joint-most IPL wins by a team at a stadium.
SRH, on the other hand, have played 10 matches at Eden Gardens, winning only three of them. The last season when both teams played here, SRH fell short of winning the match by four runs while chasing the target of 209 runs.
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