The defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will play the tournament opener in IPL 2025. They will be up against a fierce RCB unit.
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So, KKR will have to come out with the strongest possible playing XI. In the player auction held ahead of this season, the franchise bought back most of their last edition’s players.
They had retained their core players like Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Varun Chakravarthy. While Kolkata didn’t retain captain Shreyas Iyer, they have rather appointed Ajinkya Rahane as his successor.
With tiny changes here and there, KKR will look to play with a tried and tested setup.
On that note, here we’ll see our predicted strongest playing XI for KKR in IPL 2025.
KKR Squad for IPL 2025:
Rinku Singh, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Luvnith Sisodia, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mayank Markande
Read Also: CSK Strongest Playing XI for IPL 2025
KKR Strongest Playing XI for IPL 2025
Openers: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock/Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Sunil Narine had the best season last year in all aspects. He fired up with the bat on another level after he returned to open for the franchise. Narine blasted 488 runs at a strike rate of 180.74.
The Caribbean all-rounder is likely to pair up with experienced Quinton de Kock. The South African keeper-batter comes in with over 3000 runs under his belt in the IPL.
If by any chance de Kock doesn’t click, then KKR may look towards Rahmanullah Gurbaz. He is a like-for-like replacement and has proved his mettle with the bat on a few occasions.
Middle Order: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh
KKR will have a deep batting lineup. They will slot in Angkrish Raghuvanshi at No. 3. The young top-order batter showed glimpses of his quickfire batting last season.
Then, his Mumbai senior and KKR’s new captain, Ajinkya Rahane, can walk in at No. 4. Rahane has made changes to his batting style, which was visible in his previous stint with CSK.
Venkatesh Iyer, on whom the franchise spent INR 23.75 crore, can make their middle-order strong. Then, the trio of Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, and Ramandeep Singh will look to provide a solid finish with their pinch-hitting skills. Russell and Ramandeep can also chip in with the bowl whenever needed.
Read Also:- RCB Strongest Playing XI for IPL 2025
Bowlers: Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakravarthy
The pace-spin duo of Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy will head KKR’s bowling attack. Both of them impressed everyone last season. That saw them represent India in the recently concluded Champions Trophy.
Along with that, Spencer Johnson will fill in the other pace bowlers’ slot, while Narine will also be there with his off-spin.
Impact Player: Vaibhav Arora
Vaibhav Arora was a standout player for KKR last season. And the franchise will expect him to continue from where he left off. They can bring him in as an impact player when their bowling turn comes up.
